By Keith Brown, DTN Contributing Cotton Analyst
More friendly news is needed to keep the market afloat. To that point, Monday afternoon USDA will report on the 2020 crop’s planting progress and condition data. Farmers are on pace to match historical norms, but rain from Cristobal may delay some final fieldwork. On Thursday, USDA will issue weekly export sales, followed by fresh supply-demand data. Lastly, on Friday ,options for the July contract will expire.
The recent up move in crude oil, and the downward draft in the U.S. dollar are both seen as supporting the cotton market. Higher crude prices suggestively indicate synthetic production will increase, while the dollar retreat is linked towards near zero interest rates and the domestic civil unrest.
Specific to Monday’s crop condition report, certainly Texas will be in the forefront, as no state-by-state breakdown was offered last week. The nation’s crop stands at 44% good-to-excellent versus last year’s 46%, and the 10-year average of 55%. To reiterate from Monday morning, certain managed money speculators are now slightly net long the market, after one of their longest runs of being net short in recent seasons.
For Monday, July cotton closed at 60.81 cents, down 0.98 cent, December settled 60.37 cents, down 0.61 cent and March ended at 60.94 cents, down 0.45 cent. Estimated volume was 40,773 contracts.