Cotton as a commodity has a long history believed to originate from the Indus Valley Civilization in present day Pakistan. The cultivation of cotton requires abundant sunshine and adequate rainfall. In the United States, cotton is mainly produced in the states of Texas and California.

Cotton has an important role in the history of industrial revolution as textiles became the leading export for the British Empire. The City of Manchester was once known as ‘Cottonopolis’ due to the predominant of cotton factories.

Cotton is used primarily in the manufacturing of textiles such as socks, underwear and t-shirts. Other industrial uses include production of fishing nets, coffee filters, paper, tents and mattresses. Cotton’s use in the manufacturing of textiles is constantly under pressure from new synthetic substitutes, the more commonly known of which include nylon and polyester.

The major cotton producing countries are China, India, United States, Pakistan, Brazil, Uzbekistan, Australia, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Greece. Cotton growers in the United States are heavily subsidized in order to help them compete against the developing countries.

Cotton futures contracts are traded in the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) under the TT ticker symbol. It is also traded in the New York Board of Trade (NYBOT) under the CT ticker symbol. For both exchanges, the cotton futures contracts mature in the months of March (H), May (K), July (N), October (V) and December (Z).