CHANGE IN THE COTLOOK A INDEX TO REFLECT SHIFTS IN TRADE

摘要

The Cotlook A Index reflects the prices of Middling type cotton staple length 1 and 3/32 inches for nearby shipment of a specific crop (current or forward). All origins aggregated this type of cotton accounts for about 35% of world production and 45%of world trade. In the absence of an international futures market, the Cotlook A Index is regarded as the only reliable guide to world price movements. However, the quotations gathered by Cotton Outlook from sellers and buyers are not firm offering prices and do not represent a level at which mills are prepared to buy. The offering prices are in general slightly above the latest buying level. As the average of the cheapest five origins, the Index is supposed to be close to the actual contracting level.The A Index is a good proxy for prices of cotton traded internationally. The 1985 U.S. farm bill adopted the A Index as the benchmark for calculating the Adjusted World Price (AWP) for the U.S. marketing loan, from August 1, 1986. The competitive adjustment provisions of the U.S. price mechanism introduced in 1991/92 are also based on quotations in Cotton Outlook.