Keith Brown DTN Contributing Cotton Analyst    

The cotton market finished lower Friday as outside bearish forces provided plenty of discouragement to would-be bulls. A strong dollar, a weaker Dow and tepid demand are all bearishly prevailing on the cotton trade.    

Monday marks the observance of President's Day, a federal holiday, and so trading will be suspended, but will resume Monday night. Also, next week is the start of spot March's delivery. Its current open interest stands at 11,900.    

The CFTC remains, to our knowledge, offline regarding its commitment of traders report. A January cyber-attack paralyzed a main trading service, and data issuance has been compromised. Thus, there will be no report this afternoon.    

Crude oil fell by more than $3 Friday, pressured by worries that higher interest rate hikes will weigh on demand and by signs of ample crude and fuel supply. There are indications of ample supplies, which also weigh on the market. Russian oil producers expect to maintain current volumes of crude oil exports, despite the government's plan to cut oil output in March. The latest inventory report had U.S. supplies increasing by 16.3 million barrels to 471.4 million barrels, their highest level since June 2021.    

For the week, we note that spot March is off 5.02 cents, but it is also off 5.97 cents for the month, and now is down 1.95 cents on the year.   

Friday, March 2023 finished at 80.25 cents, minus 1.00 cent, May settled at 81.50 cents, down 0.50 cent and December 2023, ended at 82.25 cents, 0.22 cent lower; estimated volume was 37,544 contracts.    

Keith Brown can be reached at commodityconsults@gmail.com 

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