By Keith Brown, DTN Cotton Correspondent
The cotton market posted triple-digit settlements, as the potential for better Texas weather next week spooked speculators into selling. Also discouraging cotton were the Chicago grains. Even after falling to limit-down Thursday, corn was lower on Friday. Another bearish component Friday was producer hedging. Some growers, now thinking the Texas crop might survive, elected to sell into the weak market as well.
Friday afternoon, the CFTC will publish its speculator-hedger standings. It may be that speculators are fast exiting the cotton market as the supply-demand data of the week was not bullish enough to buoy prices.
Into next week, the market will see the normal crop progress data on Monday, followed by weekly export sales on Thursday. Sandwiched in between those reports will be the unfolding revelations of the weather for West Texas and the Delta. Right now, one is too dry, while the other is too wet.
With Friday’s close, July cotton was 7.23 cents lower on the week and down 5.65 cents on the month, but remains up 3.27 cents on the year.
Friday, July cotton closed at 82.43 cents, down 2.53 cents, December settled 81.22 cents, down 2.08 cents and March 2022 ended at 80.90 cents, down 2.14 cents; estimated volume was 38,927 contracts.