According to a CEPEA Brazil report, Brazilian cotton prices were recovering in early June, driven by the need to purchase in the short-term and expectation of delay in availability of cotton in the new season. “Purchasers with needs for prompt delivery, such as cotton processors in the northeastern and southern regions, were accepting asking prices of sellers,” the report said. The CEPEA/ESALQ Index, for payment in 8 days, for cotton type 41-4 (including freight to São Paulo city) increased 3.56 per cent in the first fortnight of the month. It closed at 2.1019 BRL per pound or $0.671 per pound on June 15, but if compared to its previous month, the price decreased 1.33 per cent. CEPEA calculations showed that in the first half of June, export prices for shipment between July and December 2015 averaged $0.6867 per pound, down 1.21 per cent from the average in May 2015. For shipments in the second quarter of 2016, the average stood at $0.7036 per pound, a drop of 2.6 per cent as against its previous month. Between June 8 and 12, the export parity calculated by CEPEA for Free Alongside Ship (FAS) at Paranaguá port stood at 1.9334 BRL or $0.621 per pound. This is a drop of 1.11 per cent when compared to its previous week ending June 5). In the same period, Cotlook A Index increased 0.21 per cent and the US dollar decreased 1.28 per cent vis-à-vis the real. In the same period, the import parity released by National Company for Food Supply (CONAB), based on Cotlook A Index, CIF São Paulo averaged 2.5293 BRL or $0.813 dollar per pound. The CONAB report released on June 11 upheld the last data that reduced Brazilian output by 13.1 per cent in 2015/16 compared to the 2014/15 crop, totaling 1.5 million tons. CONAB said cotton acreage is expected to decline to just under one million hectares, down 12.8 per cent from its previous season and also forecast that yield will also marginally drop by 0.3 per cent
