China purchases help lift US cotton sales to highest in a year

American cotton growers just had their best export sales week in a year, thanks partly to China making good on its commitments under the phase-one trade accord with the U.S.

In data that may help allay fears of demand destruction caused by the coronavirus outbreak, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported export sales of upland cotton jumped to about 396,000 bales in the week ended Feb. 27. That’s up 84% from a week earlier.

To be sure, Vietnam paced the purchases, followed by Turkey and Pakistan. But Chinese buying has also been on the rise in the past month. Purchases came in the same week that coronavirus fears sent New York cotton futures to the cheapest levels since September.

“Sales and shipments were outstanding, and higher than we expected,” Louis Rose from Rose Commodity Group in Nashville, Tennessee, said by email. “China purchases will continue to show up per their Phase One agreement.”

This week, futures are up 2.6%, on pace for the largest weekly gain since early January.

While there’s plenty of optimism about phase-one buying, both growers and merchants are still worried about how coronavirus will impact exports, Steve Verett, executive vice president of Plains Cotton Growers, the top producer group in Texas, said by email.