ICE cotton drops further on stronger dollar, India tariff shock

ICE’s most active December 2025 contract settled at 67.50 cents per pound (0.453 kg), down 0.17 cent. The contract touched 67.15 cents per pound during intraday trading, marking the lowest level since July 9, 2025. The contract has lost 84 points in the last two sessions. Other contracts settled between 5 and 40 points lower. However, the May 2028 contract gained 17 points as an exception.

The US dollar strengthened against major currencies after the Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged, aligning with market expectations. A stronger US dollar makes US cotton more expensive for foreign buyers holding other currencies, which typically dampens global demand.

ICE trading volume for July 30 stood at 30,573 contracts, down from 40,206 contracts cleared the previous day. Market participants noted a drop in activity as futures edged lower in a bland session with limited momentum.

According to ICE data as of July 29, the inventory for the deliverable No. 2 cotton futures contract stood at 21,617 bales, unchanged from the previous day.

Traders are now awaiting the USDA’s weekly export sales report, due on Thursday, for clearer insights into cotton demand trends. Exports of both old and new crop cotton are estimated to be between 100,000 and 150,000 bales in the report.

On the commodities front, CBOT soybean futures hit their lowest level since April due to favourable weather forecasts across the US Midwest; wheat futures also declined.

Currently, ICE cotton for December 2025 is trading at 67.53 cents per pound (up 0.03 cent), cash cotton at 64.65 cents (down 0.40 cent), the October 2025 contract at 65.79 cents (down 0.11 cent), the March 2026 contract at 68.86 cents (up 0.02 cent), the May 2026 contract at 69.98 cents (up 0.03 cent) and the July 2026 contract at 70.80 cents (up 0.03 cent). A few contracts remained at their previous closing levels, with no trading recorded today.

ALCHEMPro News Desk (KUL)