COTTON: Bumping the Ceiling

With a ringing of gongs, the cotton ex changes of the U.S. opened last week, after having been closed down for almost six weeks. They decided they could trade in futures and spot cotton under the Office of Price Stabilization order that set a basic ceiling on raw cotton at 45.76¢ a Ib. and futures at 45.39¢. In near futures, prices went to the ceiling and stayed there. Spot cotton prices edged up but were still under the ceiling. With cotton farmers expected to turn out a bumper crop this year, distant cotton future prices were well below ceiling.