ICE cotton rises on stronger crude; market wary of tariff expiry
ICE's most active December 2025 contract settled at 68.63 cents per pound (0.453 kg), up 0.60 cent. Other nearby contracts posted gains ranging from 47 to 59 points.
ICE cotton futures closed higher on Wednesday, supported by stronger crude oil and grain prices. Rising oil prices made polyester costlier, improving cotton's competitiveness. Trading activity was subdued due to the US holiday week and uncertainty over the 90-day tariff pause ending July 9. Market sentiment was also influenced by weather conditions and tariff developments with Vietnam.
NYMEX crude oil rose over 3 per cent following geopolitical tensions linked to Iran's suspension of cooperation with the IAEA and the announcement of a new US-Vietnam trade deal.
The rise in crude prices has made polyester—a key substitute for cotton—more expensive, thereby enhancing cotton's relative competitiveness.
Trading volume on July 2 stood at 25,879 contracts, the lowest since December 31 (18,138 contracts). The previous day's cleared volume was 37,864 contracts, reflecting reduced market participation. The decline in activity is attributed to the US holiday week, which dampened overall market momentum.
Uncertainty around the impending expiry of the 90-day tariff pause also discouraged active trading.
Vietnam is expected to remove tariffs on US goods, while the US plans to impose 20 per cent tariffs on Vietnamese products.
Market analysts noted that higher CBOT grain prices and a weaker dollar provided bullish cues for cotton.
Weather conditions are favourable in Texas but unfavourable in the Delta region, with the net impact on the crop remaining uncertain.
Demand has been modest—acceptable but not strong—with expectations for higher global consumption in the coming year.
The USDA's report dated June 30 estimates US cotton planting for 2025 at 10.1 million acres, exceeding analysts' expectations of 9.74 million acres. ICE deliverable inventory declined slightly to 40,488 bales as of July 1, from 40,683 bales the previous day.
Currently, ICE cotton for December 2025 is trading at 68.77 cents per pound (up 0.14 cent), cash cotton at 66.92 cents (up 0.49 cent), the July 2025 contract at 66.77 cents (up 0.49 cent), the October 2025 contract at 68.26 cents (up 0.09 cent), the March 2026 contract at 69.98 cents per pound (up 0.08 cent), and the May 2026 contract at 70.97 cents (up 0.04 cent). A few contracts remained at their previous closing levels, with no trading recorded today.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (KUL)
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NDTV
4 hours ago
- NDTV
"I Was Pissed": Founder Reveals How Hiring Soham Parekh Drained His Resources
A tech startup founder who hired Soham Parekh has shared his experience of working with the infamous Silicon Valley engineer who has gone viral for moonlighting at multiple US-based startups. Dhruv Amin, co-founder of Create, an artificial intelligence (AI) "text-to-app" builder, reflected on how hiring Soham was a costly decision that drained his startup's time, resources and energy. "Yes, we hired him. We're building an AI agent in San Francisco. He was eng #5. Recommended by a recruiter, which lent legitimacy. He was eager and crushed our in-person pair programming onsite. I believe he's actually a good engineer," wrote Dhruv on X (formerly Twitter). While Parekh provided references, Dhruv offered him the job, awaiting responses from the previous employers. He also briefly perused Parekh's LinkedIn, GitHub, open source commits and blog posts to get an idea about the employee they were onboarding. After accepting the job offer, Parekh said he had a New York trip planned and that he would start after a week. "He went dark the next week (strange) but texted on weekend excited for Monday. His first day at 9:30 am he calls in sick (strange). Said he'd onboard from home. Gave an address to ship the laptop," said Dhruv. our soham parekh story: - yes, we hired him. we're building an AI agent in SF. he was eng #5. - recommended by a recruiter, which lent legitimacy. - he was eager and crushed our in person pair programming onsite. i believe he's actually a good engineer. - some have said "this… — Dhruv (@dhruvtruth) July 3, 2025 'I was pissed' What followed was an elaborate gaslighting scheme where Parekh frequently excused himself from turning up at the office and delayed shipping the projects. Dhruv and his colleagues also found that Parekh was working at another company. "When we called Soham up, he denied it to the end. Said Sync guys were just friends. Either way, we were out. In an ironic twist of fate Sync dropped an employee of the month video the same day that featured none other than Soham." After terminating his contract, Parekh simply 'dipped' as per Dhruv, who assumed he was a young kid who had made a mistake. "It was embarrassing until yesterday when I realised how widespread it was. Then I was pissed. then impressed. Still not sure how he pulled it off for so long with in-person startups with long hours, but appreciated the hustle. Hope he had a good reason. Feels like a stressful way to make money." After the controversy snowballed, Parekh responded, saying, "I'm not proud of what I've done. But, you know, financial circumstances, essentially. No one really likes to work 140 hours a week, right? But I had to do this out of necessity. I was in extremely dire financial circumstances". He also added that he did all the work without the assistance of AI or other engineers. Parekh has also announced that he has taken up a job at an AI firm, Darwin, a new startup based in San Francisco in the United States. He also clarified that he will not be taking up any more additional jobs
Time of India
4 hours ago
- Time of India
Grain Diplomacy: US GM Feed Could Break India Trade Deadlock, Legal News, ET LegalWorld
Advt By , ETLegalWorld Join the community of 2M+ industry professionals. Subscribe to Newsletter to get latest insights & analysis in your inbox. All about ETLegalWorld industry right on your smartphone! Download the ETLegalWorld App and get the Realtime updates and Save your favourite articles. As the July 9 deadline for concluding the India-US trade deal approaches, a quiet yet potentially transformative breakthrough is emerging. India is considering allowing imports of select genetically modified (GM) products used in animal feed—a move that could unlock an ambitious new phase in bilateral development could offer a pragmatic path forward in a negotiation otherwise gridlocked over sensitive issues like dairy and agricultural tariffs. Sources close to the talks confirm that India may permit the inbound shipment of soybean meal and distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS)—two key by-products of US corn and soy production widely used as animal middle-ground solution avoids direct exposure to politically sensitive sectors like food and dairy, while still delivering economic value to both sides. For the US, it provides a win for its powerful farm lobby. For India, it helps support its growing poultry and livestock industries by enhancing feed availability and possibly stabilizing domestic prices.'It's a smart compromise,' said a senior official familiar with the negotiations. 'It maintains India's food sovereignty and farmer protections while signaling openness to calibrated trade liberalisation .'Beyond the immediate deal, this step could mark the beginning of a more nuanced approach to GM-related imports. While food-grade GM crops remain restricted, India already imports GM-derived edible oils. Introducing GM-based feedstock represents a strategic shift in policy thinking, balancing food safety concerns with economic announcements on the deal, which may be unveiled in phases, are expected no later than midnight of July 6. Officials suggest that while dairy and core farm tariffs are off the table for now, a broader spirit of flexibility and mutual respect is guiding the successful, the agreement could pave the way for a deeper, more resilient economic partnership between the world's two largest democracies—anchored in pragmatism, respect for domestic priorities, and a shared vision for the future.
Mint
5 hours ago
- Mint
Soham Parekh used India-Pak conflict to delay work, lied about ‘drone strike,' says ex boss
Soham Parekh, an Indian tech professional accused of secretly working for several US-based startups at the same time, has been accused of emotionally manipulating his former boss by using the India-Pakistan conflict as an excuse. Arkadiy Telegin, co-founder of Leaping AI, made these claims in a recent post on X. According to Telegin, Parekh falsely claimed that he was living close to a conflict zone in Mumbai during the tensions between India and Pakistan in May. He alleged that Parekh messaged him saying, "They shot a drone in the air near my house 10 mins away," to explain delays in work. Telegin further claimed that Parekh lied and guilt-trip him for being slow with coding tasks, saying, "Soham used to guilt-trip me for being slow on PRs when the India-Pakistan thing was going on, all while he was in Mumbai." He jokingly added, "The next person should hire him for the Chief Intelligence Officer role." Telegin also shared screenshots of their chats to support his claims. The messages were likely exchanged during a tense period of military action between India and Pakistan, following Operation Sindoor. The operation came in response to the terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, where 26 persons lost their lives on April 22. Later, Parekh reached out to Telegin to apologise for the "trouble" he had caused. Sharing a screenshot of this apology, Telegin captioned it, "Soham character arc that I hoped to see." In a separate post on X, Suhail Doshi, former CEO of Mixpanel, accused Parekh of juggling multiple jobs at once. Doshi claimed that Parekh had been working with "34 startups at the same time" and accused him of faking his CV to secure these jobs. He said that Parekh was fired within a week of being hired but allegedly continued to deceive other startups. Warning others in the startup community, Doshi wrote, "PSA: there's a guy named Soham Parekh (in India) who works at 3-4 startups at the same time. He's been preying on YC companies and more. Beware," adding, "He hasn't stopped a year later. No more excuses." Responding to the controversy, Parekh admitted his actions and said, "I'm not proud of what I've done. But, you know, financial circumstances, essentially. No one really likes to work 140 hours a week, right? But I had to do this out of necessity. I was in extremely dire financial circumstances." He also said that he completed the work himself, without using AI tools or help from other engineers. Despite the backlash, Parekh has now joined a new AI startup called Darwin, based in San Francisco. He said he will no longer be taking on multiple jobs. Darwin's CEO and founder, Sanjit Juneja, defended the hiring, saying, "Soham is an incredibly talented engineer, and we believe in his abilities to help bring our products to market."
