By Keith Brown, DTN Contributing Cotton Analyst 

After many kneejerk moves, the cotton market did finish this third week of October higher. Of late, the market has been in a trading rhythm whereby prices would zoom higher during the “Chinese hours,” only to retreat to some degree in the American hours.

Yet, prices have reflected a staunch determination to stay aloft. Currently, the market is being weighed down by growing harvest pressures, plus the inability to widely disperse cotton due to the global shipping crisis.

Next week traders will focus on the crop’s harvest numbers on Monday and export sales on Thursday. This past Tuesday the 2021 crop was shown to be 26% harvested. With that in mind, the six- to 10-day outlook indicates a dry Texas, but the Delta and the Southeast may see increased chances for rain.

Also, the CFTC will issue its commitment of traders data Friday afternoon. Last week the trend-following funds had pared their overall net long position from 94,000 to 84,000 contracts, give or take.

For the week, December cotton finished about 0.93 cent higher, up 2.46 cents on the month and 34.56 cents higher on the year.

For Friday, December settled at 108.26 cents, up 2.12 cents, March ended at 106.19 cents, up 2.04 cents and December 2022 ended at 89.27 cents, 0.20 cent higher; estimated volume was 26,661 contracts.