January 13, 2002	Sunday	Shawwal 28, 1422

ATLANTA, Jan 12: US cotton micronaire readings climbed to their highest and worst level in five years, a report by the chief of the USDA’s Grading Branch for the Cotton programme said on Friday.

The report by Robert Seals from the USDA’s Memphis, Tennessee office delivered at the annual Beltwide Cotton conference showed the 2001 micronaire readings reached an average of 4.6, against 4.3 in 2000 and 4.4 for 1999. Readings for the US Mid-South touched 4.8 and the Desert Southwest stood at 4.7.

Micronaire, a measure of the width and firmness of the fiber, is closely watched by the textile mill industry.

The mills complain that micronaire readings have gone up steadily over the past decade compared with figures of 4.1 then. The textile mills would generally favor a reading of 3.5-4.9, but most would want micronaire to reach between 3.8-4.5.

The report also said that US cotton length average in 2001 reached 34.5 thirty-seconds of an inch, the longest since 1997 when it stood at 35.1. The best lengths came from the Desert Southwest with a figure of 35.5 and the San Joaquin Valley of California at 36.2.

The 2001 US American upland (cotton) crop compares favorably with crops harvested in recent years, Seals said in his report. The percentage of 41/32 color grades and higher were the second highest in the past six years. The strength average returned to normal after being at a six-year low in 2000.

NEW YORK: NY cotton futures settled lower in range-bound trading on Friday as a neutral to slightly bearish USDA monthly production report failed to spark any interest in trade, floor sources said.

There wasn’t that much going on down here. It was all locals today...there was not too much behind the move, a floor trader said.

Key March cotton ended 0.36 cent lower to settle at 37.04 cents a lb, with trade ranging from 36.85 to 37.80 cents.

May cotton slipped 0.53 cent to 38.35 cents a lb, trading from a session low of 38.30 to 39.15 cents.

Back months finished 0.33 to 0.50 cent weaker.

Final estimated volume stood at 6,000 contracts, compared to Thursday’s 8,650 lots.

The report also showed an increase in global cotton production, citing a bigger than expected crop in China. China is now forecast to produce 24.40 million (480-lb) bales of cotton this month, an increase of 900,000 bales from the December estimate.

In a daily cotton comment, Flanagan Trading Corp. thought the 500,000 bale increase in China’s mill usage could be a somewhat friendly number to the market, but in all, he thought the report should make it a little easier for prices to move lower than higher.

Cotton futures may trade in a narrow range near-term.

Dunanvant also said he sees 2002/03 US cotton production falling to 18.00 million bales from 20-20.1 million this year, and world cotton crop production down 89.5 million bales. He also forecasted China to import 2 million bales of cotton in 2003.

On a technical level, analysts predict support in the March cotton contract to be at 36.50, while resistance is forecast at the December 7 high of 38.70 cents, then 39.80 cents.—Reuters