棉花：蓄势待发

Group 1: Investment Rating - No investment rating information is provided in the report. Group 2: Core Viewpoints - The current market sentiment is optimistic, but the post - Spring Festival downstream operating rate is unknown. Therefore, the pre - holiday Zhengzhou cotton futures price is oscillating strongly at a high level. After the festival, focus on the downstream operating rate and the new cotton target price policy that may be announced in March or April. The strategy is to try going long at the lower edge of the oscillation range [3][20]. Group 3: Summary by Related Content Downstream Consumption and Price Movement - In December last year, due to the significantly higher operating rate of the downstream industry chain in the off - season compared to the same period of the previous year and the expectation of a reduction in the cotton planting area in Xinjiang in the next year, the Zhengzhou cotton futures price increased by 6.58%. From January to mid - February this year, the price continued to move sideways at a high level, and there may still be an upward trend in the future from a technical chart perspective [5]. - In the peak seasons of September and October last year, the operating rate of the downstream industry chain did not increase month - on - month, and the cotton price declined due to the expectation of increased production. However, in the off - seasons of November and December, the operating rate did not show a seasonal decline and remained at a relatively high level. As of the week of February 6, the spinning mill operating rate was 60.5%, 10 percentage points higher than the same period last year; the weaving mill operating rate was 19.4%, 7.9 percentage points higher than the same period last year [5]. Inventory and Procurement - As of the end of January, the national commercial cotton inventory was 5.79 million tons, 40,000 tons more than the same period last year; the industrial inventory was 1 million tons, 20,000 tons more than the same period last year. Since October 2025, the industrial inventory has continued to increase from 890,000 tons to the current 1 million tons, indicating high procurement enthusiasm of downstream spinning mills [5]. Import Situation - Currently, the domestic - foreign price difference has reached the highest level since 2014, with a very high import profit. The import profit with a 1% tariff exceeds 3,500 yuan/ton, and the import profit with a sliding - scale tariff is close to 2,500 yuan/ton. However, the increase in actual import volume is not large. In December 2025, China imported 180,000 tons of cotton, an increase of 40,000 tons year - on - year; in 2025, the cumulative import of cotton was 1.08 million tons, a decrease of 1.56 million tons year - on - year; from August 2025 to July 2026, the cumulative import of cotton was 560,000 tons, a decrease of 70,000 tons year - on - year [6]. - In December 2025, China imported 170,000 tons of cotton yarn, an increase of 20,000 tons year - on - year; in 2025, the cumulative import of cotton yarn was 1.5 million tons, a decrease of 20,000 tons year - on - year; from August 2025 to July 2026, the cumulative import of cotton yarn was 720,000 tons, an increase of 110,000 tons year - on - year. Brazil exported 115,000 tons of cotton to China in January, an increase of 46,000 tons year - on - year and a decrease of 31,000 tons month - on - month; from August 2025 to July 2026, Brazil's cumulative export of cotton to China was 478,000 tons, an increase of 96,000 tons year - on - year. As of January 22, 2025/26, the United States' cumulative export of cotton to China was 97,400 tons, a decrease of 66,000 tons year - on - year [6]. USDA Monthly Supply - Demand Report - The February USDA monthly supply - demand report is neutral. The estimated global output for the 2025/26 season is 26.1 million tons, an increase of 100,000 tons from the January estimate and 300,000 tons more than the previous season. The increase in output is from China, with an estimated output of 7.62 million tons in February, an increase of 100,000 tons from the January estimate. The estimated global consumption is 25.85 million tons, a decrease of 40,000 tons from the January estimate and 50,000 tons less than the previous season. The estimated global ending inventory is 16.35 million tons, an increase of 130,000 tons from the January estimate and 290,000 tons more than the previous season. The estimated global inventory - to - consumption ratio is 62.27%, an increase of 0.63 percentage points from the January estimate and 1.25 percentage points more than the previous season. The estimated export volume of the United States is adjusted down by 40,000 tons to 2.61 million tons compared to January, while the estimates of China, Brazil, and India change little [19].