Keith Brown DTN Contributing Cotton Analyst    

The cotton market was able to slough-off being 2.00-plus cents down on the day, to end about 0.90 cent lower. Supposedly, traders are beginning to look some four to six weeks out, thinking that the huge increase in China's COVID counts will have at least passed its peak. It is thought once spring arrives, China may be back as a serious buyer for all sorts of commodities, including cotton.    

As a reminder, this week's export sales are delayed until Friday morning. Last week's sales were a negative 87,000, as China canceled some 144,000 bales. A key report to watch will be January's Retail Sales Report (on the 18th) as a barometer of apparel transactions during the Christmas holidays.      

The U.S. dollar touched a one-week high against most currencies Wednesday. In large part, the move was supported by a jump in Treasury yields and investor expectations for a rebound in Chinese growth as COVID-19 curbs loosen.    

According to the CDC, the U.S. has officially recorded more than 100 million cases of COVID as of Tuesday. That number represents about one-third of the total U.S. population. However, it is widely thought that more than 200 million Americans have had the virus. While the government's data counts people who've tested positive more than once or caught COVID multiple times, it doesn't capture the number of COVID patients who were asymptomatic and never tested or tested at home and didn't report it.    

For Wednesday, March 2023 finished at 83.26 cents, down 0.98 cent, July settled at 83.20 cents, off 0.71 cents and December 2023 finished at 81.06 cents, down 0.15 cent; estimated volume was 18,005 contracts.    

Keith Brown can be reached at commodityconsults@gmail.com 

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