DTN Closing Cotton            09/22 13:48

   Cotton "Waxes and Wanes" 

   The cotton market was lower today as traders are wait for any sort of 
positive "export sign" from the Trump/Xi trade meeting this Thursday.

Keith Brown
DTN Contributing Cotton Analyst

   The cotton market was lower Tuesday as it lost a big portion of the 
enthusiasm generated from Monday's significantly higher run. Traders are 
waiting for any sort of positive "export sign" from the Trump/Xi trade meeting 
this Thursday. Also, at that time weekly exports will be released, and then on 
Friday the latest CFTC update will be released.    

   The long-awaited Trump/Xi trade meeting will take place in Washington 
Thursday. The two leaders will discuss, among many topics, tariffs, trade, AI, 
Iran, and Taiwan. 

   Also on Thursday, the USDA will issue its weekly export sales. Highlights 
from last week included combined seasonal sales of 77,391 bales, versus the 
previous total of 76,318 bales sold. For last year, those combined sales were 
186,100 bales. Weekly Shipments totaled 142,076 bales, down from the previous 
177,774 bales exported. 

   On Friday, at 3:30 p.m., CFTC will update its Commitments of Traders data. 
Last week's numbers showed that the managed-money traders were net sellers of 
2,267 contracts. That action reduced their net long carry to 97,903. Their 
record stands at 108,788 contracts. 

   China will soon be observing two key holidays. The first is the Mid-Autumn 
Festival from Sept. 25-27, and the next is Golden Week. It runs from Oct. 1-7. 
Typically, business slows during these celebrations.

   China's State Reserve is continuing its domestic auctions. Sunday's auction 
saw some 36,128 bales put up, of which 35,952 bales were bought. Then on 
Monday, about 35,856 bales were sold. China's total auction count stands at 47, 
with cumulative bales sold about 1,647,888 bales. So far, the "brands" sold 
have included a mixture of 57% US, 23% SoAm, and 20% Xinjiang.

   For today, December closed at 8287, minus 55 points, March 2027 finished at 
8575 down 51 points, and July 2027 settled at 8734, 32 points lower. Today's 
estimated volume was 51,978 contracts.

   Keith Brown can be reached at commodityconsults@gmail.com




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