December Cotton continued this week’s choppy, rangebound action overnight. 

The announcement this week that India was suspending its 11% import duty on cotton was welcomed by US cotton growers, as it opens the door for more desperately needed export business. This development was probably too late to show up in today’s export sales report, which will reflect business through last Thursday. Nonetheless, traders could be expecting a strong report this week as we move further into the 2025/26 marketing year. 

The US crop is in good shape, with crop conditions running above average in general and well above average in Texas. However, parts of West Texas are drying out, and southwest part of the region needs rain badly. The Delta needs rain as well. In Xinjiang, China, temperatures have been chilly recently and the area needs a warm-up to support crops more favorably. A gradual return of more normal weather is expected in this coming week. Up to this point conditions in that region have been quite favorable.