Keith Brown DTN Contributing Cotton Analyst    

The cotton market was materially lower Tuesday amid a slightly improving weather forecast for West Texas and a bit of end-of-the-quarter squaring.    

The most recent weather update has the widely-watched six- to 10-day indicating better chances for rain and moderating temperatures. However, the Delta and the Southeast are getting set to experience triple-digit temperatures Wednesday and Thursday.    

Tuesday afternoon, USDA will issue its crop progress/condition report delayed by the observance of Juneteenth Monday. Additionally, that holiday will delay weekly export sales until Friday. Also on Friday, July cotton will enter its delivery, which will run through its expiration, July 7.    

Crude oil was higher Tuesday in response to potential summer fuel demand and tightening supplies. Prices have been supported by supply anxiety after sanctions on oil shipments from Russia, the world's second-largest oil exporter and questions over how Russian output might fall due to sanctions on equipment needed for production. However, the Russians are selling oil to China and the Ruble is close to hitting a five-year high.    

For Tuesday, July cotton settled at 143.51 cents, up 0.06 cent, December closed at 113.85 cents, down 4.44 cents and March 2023 finished at 109.67 cents, 4.45 cents lower; estimated volume was 44,857 contracts.    

Keith Brown can be reached at commodityconsults@gmail.com 

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