Cotton Dips on Firm Dollar; Focus on Planting Report
March 29 (Reuters) - ICE cotton futures edged lower in choppy trading on Monday, pressured by a firmer dollar, while expectations for a reduction to forecasts for planted acreage in a federal report due later this week put a floor under prices.
* Cotton contracts for May were down 0.12 cent or 0.2% at 80.26 cents per lb by 10:59 A.M EDT. It traded within a range of 79.93 and 80.85 cents a lb.
* The dollar hit a more than four-month high, making cotton more expensive for buyers holding other currencies.
* The U.S. Department of Agriculture's planting intentions report is due at 1600 GMT on Wednesday. A Reuters poll forecasts U.S. cotton acreage at 11.905 million acres for the 2021/22 marketing year.
* "The trade is looking for a number under 12 million acres because of the strong competition from soybeans, corn, groundnuts and grain sorghum," said Keith Brown, principal at cotton brokers Keith Brown and Co in Georgia.
* In a potential escalation of tensions with top cotton buyer China, the United States on Saturday condemned China's sanctions against two American religious-rights officials in a dispute over Beijing's treatment of Uighur Muslims.
* Last week, the China branch of the cotton trade body Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) said it had not found signs of forced labor related to cotton production in Xinjiang.
* China could continue to buy U.S. cotton due to its quality and availability, Brown said, adding, "until they (China) can get a sure amount of their own cotton planted, they'll continue to buy U.S. cotton."
* Total futures market volume fell by 37,042 to 9,081 lots. Data showed total open interest fell 3,334 to 228,758 contracts in the previous session.
(Reporting by Nakul Iyer in Bengaluru; Editing by Dan Grebler)
