The dreaded war began on 24 February 2022, and it is to be hoped that this date will not go down in history as the start of the third world confrontation. Even if for the first time a nuclear power puts its unconventional strike force on alert. In such a context, talking about prices or the market may seem indecent. 

However, in the midst of chaos, a sense of reality helps to avoid neurosis and the impression that a return to normalcy is imminent. 

Given the situation, we can consider that our market continues to perform well, although it is by no means "strategic". 

• - Demand, less sustained than in recent weeks, remains at a very satisfactory level for shipments until July 2022. 
• - Chinese, Indian, Pakistani and Vietnamese demand is still strong. 
• - The bullish structure of ICE, particularly for December 2022 futures, is still a reassuring element for investors, as the market is no longer considered "overbought". 
• - In the current climate, consumption of manufactured goods is expected to ease. 
• - On the freight front, disorder continues to reign with no global solution in sight. On the contrary, some operators seem to be abandoning markets that have become complicated to concentrate on other areas. Is a freight Yalta taking shape?

On the production side, one can legitimately be confident: 

• - The cost price of cotton continues to rise, notably because of the increase in inputs. 
• - Climate change is intensifying in both hemispheres, casting doubt on projections of yield per hectare. 
• - The war is pushing all raw materials to new heights, mortgaging the areas devoted to cotton because wheat, soya, maize and sunflower, to name but a few, are strategic and increasingly attractive.

In Africa, the last African Union summit only made official the departure of European troops from Mali and the French withdrawal to Niger without programming the reopening of Malian borders. What are the possibilities of exporting cotton from this country in these circumstances? 

Despite the war, our market remains well oriented and the dollar very volatile.