The New York Board of Trade (NYBOT), a wholly-owned subsidiary of IntercontinentalExchange (NYSE: ICE), will host an interactive panel discussion on the state of the cotton markets on Friday, July 13, 2007 from 8:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. ET.
U.S. cotton planted acreage for the 2007-2008 crop season is estimated by the USDA at 11.06 million acres, down 28% from the previous growing season. A distinguished panel of cotton market experts, including special guest speaker Joe Nicosia, CEO of Allenberg Cotton, will discuss crop conditions, domestic and world demand, farm policy and acreage.
Cotton holds the second largest volume of futures contracts traded at NYBOT in June. The NYBOT Cotton No. 2(sm) futures contract is the world benchmark for cotton prices.
Panelists include: Dr. O.A. Cleveland, PhD, Professor Emeritus, Mississippi State University; Dr. Carl Anderson, PhD, Professor Emeritus, Texas A&M University; Jarral Neeper, Vice President, Marketing, Calcot, Ltd.; Mike Stevens, Swiss Financial Services; and Patrick McClatchy, Executive Director, Ag Market Network.
The meeting will be broadcast live over the Internet and can be accessed via the NYBOT website. Those interested in participating with questions can access the conference by calling 1-888-889-5345. A replay of the meeting will be available on the NYBOT website.
Total volume of futures and options traded at NYBOT in June 2007 increased 33.4% to a record 6,057,750 contracts,compared to 4,541,503 in June 2006. NYBOT Cotton No. 2 futures volume reached 745,901 contracts; 48% of this volume traded electronically on the ICE trading platform. Total options trading volume on Cotton No.2 in June reached 335,301 contracts, up 112% compared to June 2006.