Cotton prices at ICE Futures (New York Board of Trade) took a tumble in the second week of June, mainly the short-term contracts, which involves the product from the previous crop. As a result, prices moved down in Brazil.

According to the USDA, the demand for the product from the United States of the previous season is reducing and the supply for the short-term was still limited until mid-June.

In Brazil, Conab (National Company for Food Supply) announced on June 8 that the Brazilian planted area should increase slightly, as well as yield and production of the 2010/11 season. The area may reach 1.391 million hectares; the yield, 1,475 kilos per hectare and the production, 2.051 million tons, increases of 65.9%, 2.9% and 70.7%, respectively, compared to the previous season.

Between May 31 to June 15, the CEPEA/ESALQ Index for cotton type 41-4 (delivered in São Paulo city, payment in 8 days) moved down 2.23%, to close at 2.2659 reais or 1.4161 dollar per pound on June 15.

While some Brazilian sellers were willing to trade in mid-June, industries remained reluctant to accept asking prices, which kept liquidity low. In general terms, however, purchasers were concerned with the large share the production this year traded in advance to the international market.

Data from Secex (Foreign Trade Secretariat) indicate that cotton shipments in May were 55.1% lower compared to that registered in April, amounting 3.6 million tons.

CEPEA - Center for Advanced Studies on Applied Economics is a research center of the University of São Paulo located at ESALQ in Piracicaba, State of São Paulo. It is focused on agribusiness issues considering a diversity of related subjects: market analysis and price discovery, international trade, macroeconomics, management strategies, environmental and social aspects, entrepreneurship and family farming.