ICE cotton futures closed weaker on Friday, with contracts down 13 to 30 points. The December contract slipped 51 points this week. External markets were mixed, as the US dollar index was down $0.624 on the day to $97.680, while crude oil futures fell $1.51.

Spec funds in cotton futures and options increased their already large net short position by 6,438 contracts as of September 2, bringing the total net short to 66,369 contracts.

USDA’s weekly export sales report showed total cotton sales of 244,971 RB for the week ending August 28. That was up 36.6% from last week and 81.21% above the same week last year. Vietnam was the largest buyer at 109,700 RB, followed by India with 53,800 RB and China with 35,200 RB. Actual shipments totaled 154,651 RB, the highest in 4 weeks. Most of that went to Vietnam at 82,800 RB, with 17,500 RB shipped to Pakistan.

The Seam reported just 135 bales sold on Thursday at an average price of 62.85 cents/lb. The Cotlook A Index was unchanged at 77.50 cents on September 4. ICE certified cotton stocks were steady at 15,474 bales on September 4. USDA’s Adjusted World Price (AWP) was down another 63 points on Thursday to 54.31 cents/lb.