Keith Brown DTN Contributing Cotton Analyst    

The cotton market was moderately lower Thursday as traders await Friday's export sales from USDA. In addition, there was also some position squaring by large speculators and funds as 2022 fades.    

Of late, U.S. export sales have been negative, "literally." Last week's sales were a net negative 87,000, as China cancelled some 144,000 bales. Given that China remains in the deep grip of COVID, along with poor global apparel demand, its need to buy U.S. cotton for now has been blunted.    

Also Friday, the CFTC will update its commitment of traders data. The managed-money funds have essentially been bullish on the market for the entirety of 2022, but recently, they may have been adjusting their trading books, meaning that some long liquidation may be occurring. However, as one manager suggested, with corn and soybeans inordinately high, cotton seems to be the least expensive agricultural market to buy. Thus, there could be a big positive push once 2023 fully gets underway.    

For Thursday, March 2023 finished at 82.64 cents, down 0.62 cent, July settled at 82.63 cents, down 0.57 cent and December 2023 finished at 8024 cents, down 0.82 cent; estimated volume was 11,452 contracts.    

Keith Brown can be reached at commodityconsults@gmail.com 

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