Cotton Index 2026 · Base-grade ICE bale
One object, 41 countries. The Cotton Index prices a Strict Low Middling 1-1/16″ bale — the ICE Cotton No. 2 deliverable — at the mill or gin, then asks the Big Mac question: after the exchange rate, is the local bale dear or cheap against New York.
ICE Futures U.S.
Cotton No. 2
Strict Low Middling 1-1/16″ · color 41 · leaf 4 · staple 34
CT=F delayed last
Settlement 11 September 2026 · 480 lb net USDA bale · Mike 3.5–4.7 · 26.0 gpt+
ICE nearby
87.24 ¢
US bale
$418.75
Year change
+32.4%
Dearest bale
China
Cheapest bale
Iran
Calculator
Hold the local lint quote still. Flip live rates to reprice the bale at today's dollar and the ICE nearby. The US row is the ICE nearby — the legal object on the receipt. Sorted by how many bales the money buys.
Survey FX · Survey ICE · ICE bale $418.75 · 11 September 2026
| Country | Bales | vs US | Bale | ¢/lb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IRIran | 3.00 | +25.7% | $333.12 | 69.4 |
| NGNigeria | 2.87 | +20.2% | $348.48 | 72.6 |
| TZTanzania | 2.80 | +17.1% | $357.60 | 74.5 |
| ZMZambia | 2.77 | +16.0% | $360.96 | 75.2 |
| UZUzbekistan | 2.71 | +13.6% | $368.64 | 76.8 |
| ZWZimbabwe | 2.66 | +11.4% | $375.84 | 78.3 |
| TMTurkmenistan | 2.63 | +10.3% | $379.68 | 79.1 |
| TDChad | 2.59 | +8.5% | $385.92 | 80.4 |
| KZKazakhstan | 2.55 | +6.9% | $391.68 | 81.6 |
| CMCameroon | 2.53 | +6.1% | $394.56 | 82.2 |
| PKPakistan | 2.50 | +4.6% | $400.32 | 83.4 |
| BFBurkina Faso | 2.48 | +3.7% | $403.68 | 84.1 |
| MXMexico | 2.46 | +3.0% | $406.56 | 84.7 |
| CICôte d'Ivoire | 2.45 | +2.8% | $407.52 | 84.9 |
| MLMali | 2.45 | +2.4% | $408.96 | 85.2 |
| BJBenin | 2.42 | +1.3% | $413.28 | 86.1 |
| ZASouth Africa | 2.41 | +1.0% | $414.72 | 86.4 |
| USUnited States | 2.39 | 0.0% | $418.75 | 87.2 |
| CACanada | 2.36 | -1.0% | $422.88 | 88.1 |
| ARArgentina | 2.35 | -1.5% | $425.28 | 88.6 |
| BRBrazil | 2.32 | -2.9% | $431.04 | 89.8 |
| INIndia | 2.28 | -4.3% | $437.76 | 91.2 |
| AEUnited Arab Emirates | 2.24 | -6.0% | $445.44 | 92.8 |
| EGEgypt | 2.23 | -6.7% | $448.80 | 93.5 |
| ESSpain | 2.22 | -7.1% | $450.72 | 93.9 |
| THThailand | 2.21 | -7.3% | $451.68 | 94.1 |
| GRGreece | 2.20 | -8.0% | $455.04 | 94.8 |
| IDIndonesia | 2.19 | -8.4% | $456.96 | 95.2 |
| AUAustralia | 2.18 | -8.7% | $458.88 | 95.6 |
| VNVietnam | 2.15 | -9.9% | $464.64 | 96.8 |
| PTPortugal | 2.14 | -10.4% | $467.52 | 97.4 |
| BDBangladesh | 2.12 | -11.3% | $472.32 | 98.4 |
| FRFrance | 2.11 | -11.7% | $474.24 | 98.8 |
| DEGermany | 2.10 | -12.1% | $476.16 | 99.2 |
| TWTaiwan | 2.09 | -12.3% | $477.60 | 99.5 |
| ITItaly | 2.08 | -12.8% | $480.48 | 100.1 |
| KRSouth Korea | 2.07 | -13.3% | $482.88 | 100.6 |
| GBUnited Kingdom | 2.05 | -14.0% | $486.72 | 101.4 |
| JPJapan | 2.04 | -14.6% | $490.08 | 102.1 |
| TRTurkey | 2.01 | -16.0% | $498.24 | 103.8 |
| CNChina | 1.76 | -26.3% | $568.32 | 118.4 |
41 markets, cheapest lint first. Rank by dollar price.
World map
Country fill is the premium or discount to the ICE bale. Bubble size is mill use or production, whichever is larger. Dark rings are import mills with no crop of their own.
0.00–5.00 bales per $1,000
Rankings
Sorted by dollar price of a 480 lb base-grade bale. vs ICE is the raw index: (local dollar price − US ICE price) ÷ US ICE price.
Spread
China at $568.32 versus Iran at $333.12. The ICE bale is $418.75.
Warm bars sit above ICE; cool sit below. Eight dearest, four cheapest.
History
Monthly nearby. The 2022 spike — drought plus a scramble for physical — still dwarfs everything since. Dec 2026 is the last point.
Curve
Lasts as of 11 September 2026. Dec 2026 was the survey nearby; live months roll with the board.
How it works
Method 1 · Raw index
Convert the local mill or gin quote into dollars. Subtract the ICE nearby. Divide by the ICE nearby. A positive number means the local bale is dear — the currency is, in cotton terms, overvalued.
valuation = (dollar price − $418.75) / $418.75
Method 2 · Why it is not a burger
Cotton moves. Freight, quality, quotas and ginning costs are supposed to create a basis to ICE. China's premium is a tariff wall; Mali's discount is a West African FOB growth. The residual after a typical basis is the currency reading.
implied PPP = local bale / ICE bale, in local per USD
The object is always the same: Strict Low Middling 1-1/16″, 480 lb net. Survey nearby was 87.24 ¢/lb on 11 September 2026. Full methodology.
FAQ
ICE Cotton No. 2 delivers US-grown Strict Low Middling, color 41, leaf 4, staple 1-1/16″ (34), micronaire 3.5–4.7, strength 26.0 gpt or better. The contract is 50,000 lb — about a hundred commercial bales. This index uses the USDA statistical bale of 480 lb net so it lines up with world production numbers.
Same arithmetic, different object. The Big Mac is a non-tradable basket (rent, labor, beef, a bun). Cotton is tradable, so gaps to ICE are a mix of freight, quality, policy and currency. We still print the raw valuation because it is the cleanest single number. Read it as a basis, not as a burger.
The CC Index prices mill-delivered 3128B inside a quota-and-tariff wall. Xinjiang cotton does not have to meet ICE; imported growth does. The premium is mostly policy, not a strong yuan.
It leaves every mill and gin quote frozen at the survey week. Dollar prices rebuild from a daily USD cross (open.er-api.com). The ICE nearby rebuilds from the delayed CT=F last (Yahoo Finance) — after the close, that is the session last, usually a tick or two from settlement. Useful for 'what is this bale worth this morning.' Not an official ICE print.
Yes. The calculator can display in USD, EUR, CNY, INR, BRL or GBP. The valuation versus ICE is always computed in dollars first — the US nearby is the numeraire.
Bangladesh, Vietnam, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and much of Europe spin cotton they do not grow. Their row is a mill-delivered import quote for an SLM-equivalent bale — the price a spinner actually pays.
No. Extra-long staple is a different fibre. Egypt is carried as an upland mill equivalent; Giza is footnoted on the country page at roughly 1.8–2.2× that quote.
Yes, with credit to Cotton Index and the underlying sources (ICE, USDA, Cotlook). The Data page has CSV and JSON. Commercial redistribution of ICE or Cotlook raw series still needs those houses.