Commodity
Cotton
The front-month ICE cotton futures price in US cents per pound. As the core input of apparel and textiles it blends global clothing demand with US, Indian, and Chinese harvests, gauging consumer-goods input costs and EM textile margins.
Latest
86.96 US cents/lb
+4.54 US cents/lb
At a glance
Cotton: latest value and prior change
As of 2026-09-08, Cotton is 86.96 US cents/lb. It is 4.54 US cents/lb higher than 82.42 US cents/lb on 2026-09-04.
Within the default comparison window of 1,000 observations from 2022-09-16 to 2026-09-08, the latest value is at the tie-adjusted 90th percentile. Available history covers 2000-01-03 to 2026-09-08 with 6,691 observations.
- Observed on
- Default comparison window
- 2022-09-16–2026-09-08
- Observations · observed cadence
- 1,000 · Daily
- Data source
- Yahoo Finance
A high or low percentile does not by itself make the indicator positive, negative, or a buy or sell signal.
Time-series chart
Cotton
2000-01-03–2026-09-08
Long-history series are stored as real provider observations. Index, FX, VIX, and ratio charts use historical backfill where providers expose it; Korean investor flow and margin-credit feeds expand as stable historical endpoints become available.
Recent observations and calculated changes
The ten latest chart observations. Change subtracts the previous observation; intervals vary with holidays, release schedules and missing data. A difference in rates or ratios is not an investment return.
| Observed | Value | Previous date | Difference (current − previous) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-09-08 | 86.96 US cents/lb | 2026-09-04 | 4.54 US cents/lb |
| 2026-09-04 | 82.42 US cents/lb | 2026-09-03 | -0.94 US cents/lb |
| 2026-09-03 | 83.36 US cents/lb | 2026-09-02 | -3.02 US cents/lb |
| 2026-09-02 | 86.38 US cents/lb | 2026-09-01 | -3.63 US cents/lb |
| 2026-09-01 | 90.01 US cents/lb | 2026-08-31 | -1.69 US cents/lb |
| 2026-08-31 | 91.70 US cents/lb | 2026-08-28 | 1.78 US cents/lb |
| 2026-08-28 | 89.92 US cents/lb | 2026-08-27 | -1.14 US cents/lb |
| 2026-08-27 | 91.06 US cents/lb | 2026-08-26 | 3.29 US cents/lb |
| 2026-08-26 | 87.77 US cents/lb | 2026-08-25 | 0.69 US cents/lb |
| 2026-08-25 | 87.08 US cents/lb | 2026-08-24 | -0.40 US cents/lb |
Source: Yahoo Finance
Interpretation guide
Cotton futures: where apparel demand meets the harvest
Cotton futures trade in US cents per pound on ICE. Unlike other crops, its demand comes from clothing and textiles rather than food, making it a rare commodity where both supply (US, Indian, Chinese harvests) and demand (global apparel spending) are cyclical.
What to check
Demand is half the story. When global clothing consumption rolls over, even a poor harvest cannot lift prices; when consumption recovers, an ordinary crop supports strength. Texas drought, the Indian monsoon, and Chinese reserve policy drive the supply side.
- Cotton strength alongside improving apparel retail sales is credible demand-led strength.
- Texas drought and weak Indian monsoon headlines are the classic supply-side triggers.
- Chinese import quotas and state-reserve releases are the policy swing factors in the short run.
Interpretation rules
Cotton doubles as a consumer-cycle indicator. Its relative price against oil-linked synthetics also shapes demand, so cotton's strength versus polyester costs reads the temperature of real demand.
- Oil spikes raise synthetic-fiber costs and support cotton demand at the margin.
- Cotton weakness paired with soft apparel retail reads as global consumption slowing.
- Unlike grains it is irrelevant to food inflation — keep it out of the food-price basket.
How to apply it
Cotton feeds straight into apparel OEM and textile-maker costs and spreads. For value-chain margin calls, read the cotton trend together with each company's ability to pass costs through.
- In cotton surges, check margin pressure at OEMs with weak pricing power.
- A falling, stabilizing cotton price can open a spread-improvement phase for brands and OEMs.
- Demand-led strength and supply-led spikes imply opposite things for textile stocks — separate them.