DTN Closing Cotton            02/18 13:30

   Cotton Hangs Aloft

   Despite its continued wishy-washy trend, the cotton market was higher today.

Keith Brown
DTN Contributing Cotton Analyst

   Despite its continued wishy-washy trend, the cotton market was higher today. 
Traders were influenced by the price recovery in gold, silver and the rapid 
rally in crude oil. Additionally, traders are awaiting Friday's export sales 
and the CFTC's traders update.

   This week, China will celebrate the Lunar New Year holidays. Most business 
activities may be slowed or shuttered altogether.

   Thursday and Friday, USDA will hold its annual Ag Outlook Forum, presenting 
certain 10-year projections for U.S. agriculture.

   Weekly export sales will be delayed until Friday due to the observance of 
Presidents Day. Last week saw combined seasonal sales nearing 285,000 bales, 
off some 8%, while shipments were 188,600, down 20%. The report will be out at 
8:30 a.m. EST.

   This Friday at 3:30 p.m., the CFTC will update its Commitment of Traders 
data. Its last calculation showed that the managed-money funds had increased 
their net-short position to 75,602 contracts. Their record concentration from 
last October stands at 81,343 contracts.

   This Monday commences the delivery process for March cotton. Any producer 
tied to the March contract must either flatten or roll by this Friday, Feb. 20, 
to avoid the delivery process. Current open interest for Spot March is 27,850 
contracts.

   For Wednesday, July closed at 65.47 cents, up 10 points; December 2026 
closed at 68.09 cents, plus 4 points; and March 2027 finished at 69.38 cents, 3 
points higher. Wednesday's estimated volume was 79,290 contracts.

   Keith Brown can be reached at commodityconsults@gmail.com




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