By Keith Brown, DTN Contributing Cotton Analyst 

The cotton market was sharply higher Thursday as USDA reported yet another dynamic export-sales report. Combining the last two weeks of business, total sales have bumped up against the 900,000-bale mark as being sold into the export market. Of course, such demand is being driven by the awakening of the Asian economy, fueled by a demonstratively weaker U.S. dollar and the hope that vaccines will return planet Earth to a better state of “normal.”

As March cotton enters its Friday trade, it is up 3.11 cents on the week, up 5.04 cents on the month and up 6.39 cents on the year. That’s quite an improvement from several weeks ago.

Next week the market will observe Christmas holidays. The market will close at 1:05 p.m. Thursday, Christmas Eve and Christmas day.

For Thursday, March cotton closed at 77.19 cents, up 1.54 cents, July settled at 78.48 cents, 1.38 cents and December 2021 ended at 73.62 cents, up 0.28 cent. Estimated volume was 31,747 contracts.