Cotton Futures

This article describes a futures contract with a discrete termination or delivery date. View articles referencing this futures contract.

 

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Marcus Tan

Cotton No. 2 futures are traded on the New York Board of Trade under ticker symbol CT in cents and hundredths of a cent per pound.^[1]

The chart at left shows Front Month cotton futures prices on the New York Board of Trade (NYBOT) in cents and hundredths of a cent per pound.

Delivery Dates

Cotton No. 2 futures are delivered every year in March, May, July, October, and December.^[1]

The following is a table with Cotton No. 2 futures delivery dates and resultant tickers for 2009. For an explanation on commodity tickers see commodity ticker construction.

Contract Specifications

Contract Size

One Cotton No. 2 futures contract on the New York Board of Trade is 50,000 pounds net weight.^[1]

Tick Value

1/100 of a cent (one "point") per pound equivalent to $5.00 per contract.^[1]

Daily Price Limit

5 cents above or below previous day's settlement price.^[1]

Feb 3, 2011

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission has approved higher daily trading limits in the ICE Futures U.S. cotton market, trading sources said on Thursday.

The changes expand the daily trading limit to 7.00 cents if the price of cotton is trading at $1.7001 or higher.

The higher limits are in a scale running from 3.00 cents to 7.00 cents. The new plan would force daily limit moves within a specific trading band.

Trading Hours

• On the CME Globex electronic platform: 2:30 AM until 2:45 PM, New York Time.^[1]

Last Trading Day

Seventeen business days from end of spot month.^[1]

Deliverable Grades

Quality: Strict Low Middling, Staple Length: 1 2/32nd inc.^[1]

Margin

• Initial Margin: $1820.00^[1]
• Maintenance Margin: $1300.00^[1]

References

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9} The New York Board of Trade's contract specification for Cotton No. 2 futures