DTN Closing Cotton            02/23 13:31

   Cotton Hunkers Sideways

   Despite there being no deliveries against Spot March, plus soaring metals 
and grain markets, ICE cotton still ended slightly lower today. 

Keith Brown
DTN Contributing Cotton Analyst

   Despite there being no deliveries against Spot March, plus soaring metals 
and grain markets, ICE cotton still ended slightly lower today. Traders 
continued to sort out the possible ramifications of the tariff ruling, as well 
as factoring in a weaker U.S. dollar and Dow Jones.

   Supposedly, China will fully open for business Tuesday, Feb. 24, after their 
week-long Lunar New Year celebrations.

   As mentioned, March cotton is in actual delivery. There were no tenders 
placed against the spot month today, but the notice period delivery runs 
through Monday, March 7.

   As the month of February draws to a close, traders will get a full dose of 
economic news this Thursday in several releases. The main ones will be Q4-GDP, 
Personal Income and jobless claims.

   Also Thursday, USDA will release another weekly export sales report. Last 
week saw a combined seasonal sales number of 335,663 bales, for which the old 
crop was a marketing-year-high amount. Weekly shipments were 172,6000 bales, 
off 9% from the previous week.

   Then on Friday at 3:30 p.m. EST, the CFTC will issue another Commitment of 
Traders report. This past week showed that the managed-money funds had net sold 
some 3,900 contracts, swelling their current bearish position to 79,508 
contracts. For context, their record high negative carry from last October 
stands at 81,343 contracts.

   For Monday, July closed at 66.82 cents, down 36 points; December 2026 closed 
at 69.04 cents, minus 26 points; and March 2027 finished at 69.93 cents, 21 
points lower. Monday's estimated volume was 58,019 contracts.

   Keith Brown can be reached at commodityconsults@gmail.com




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