On the commodities front, oil prices are rising following the cold snap hitting America (both literally and figuratively), but the most surprising surges are in safe-haven assets such as gold and silver, which are breaking record after record, with gold exceeding $5,000.
Cotton seems frozen on the ICE, as the market's anemic volatility weighs on all indicators. Speculation remains mostly bearish, week after week, despite the upcoming reduction in planted acreage.
US cotton continues to sell well and should continue to do so, particularly thanks to the upcoming adoption of the Buying American Cotton Act (BACA), which will provide financial incentives for finished products made with American cotton and sold in the US. Brazilian cotton continues to sell well thanks to attractive prices. All other origins, particularly African ones, are caught between cotton at the lowest cost price and cotton where national preference will encourage the use of local cottons, even if they are spun, woven, and manufactured abroad. Europe would have everything to gain by also introducing a Buying African Cotton Act, allowing Africa to sell its production and maintain a social fabric that has been damaged by the end of USAID.
Πηγή: Mambo