What are the Cotlook Indices?
The A Index began as a CIF Liverpool value in the days when the UK still retained a sizeable spinning industry. It later became a CIF N. Europe value, as the industry in the UK fell into decline. Most recently (with effect from August 1, 2004) the A Index changed emphasis by representing offering prices based on CFR Far Eastern main ports terms. An Index based on CFR Far Eastern values has been compiled and published since March 2003. Today, the Cotlook A Index is compiled from the cheapest five offering prices to mills of a basket of growths (currently 19), on the assumption that these are likely to be the cottons most frequently traded on the day in question. The mechanism of averaging the cheapest quotations has been proved to be a reliable method of calculating the Index over its forty-year existence. Calculation of the North European A Index value, and its companion B Index (for ‘coarser count’ cottons), referred to as the A (NE) and the B (NE), ceased on July 31, 2008.
