Posted April 22, 2017

 

By Seshadri Ramkumar

 

LUBBOCK, Texas – Strong demand drives the cotton market amid increased planting intentions in the United States.

 

Cotton industry stakeholders in the High Plains of Texas gathered here on April 21 with an optimistic mood in spite of dense fog to discuss this year’s cotton planting, Washington politics, global demand and market scenario.

 

A lot of acres of cotton is expected in Texas, with about a 20 percent increase in acreage predicted. Recent planting intentions report by the USDA estimates that Texas will have about 22 percent more acreage this year vs. last year. Steve Verett, executive vice president of Lubbock-based Plains Cotton Growers, Inc., estimated the increase will be significantly higher in the 1-N region of the High Plains, Central Texas and South Texas areas to achieve the overall increase of 20 percent in Texas.

 

The High Plains of Texas, with 41 counties, will have more cotton planted than any other region in the United States, Verett said.

 

The High Plains is expected to have 15 percent more cotton acres this year. Shawn Wade, director of Policy Analysis and Research at Plains Cotton Growers, said that the High Plains of Texas should see its highest planted acreage since 2011. That year, it seemed the region planted every acre available for cotton, Wade said. The 2017 plantings will probably not reach that level, he said, but should easily reach 4.25 million acres.

 

One would expect with higher planting intentions that the market would go down, but December futures is trading at about 75 cents.

 

Demand is strong and, with China coming into buying, that makes the market stand steady. China and Vietnam are buying American crop, too At this point, the U.S. is shipping cotton, which is good, according to cotton sales people who were present at the meeting.

 

The global textile industry is in need of quality cotton and reliable delivery schedules.

 

Dr. Seshadri Ramkumar, Ph.D, FTA (honorary), is a professor at the Nonwovens & Advanced Materials Laboratory at Texas Tech.