Keith Brown DTN Contributing Cotton Analyst    

The cotton market closed nearly unchanged Friday after an early morning onslaught of selling took prices lower by triple digits. With that, trading remains lockstep in a sideways congestive formation. That is, on rallies producers are selling, while on declines mill buying emerges. Thus, the tight and elongated ranging pattern of the market.    Options on March futures expired Friday on the close.    

Russia announced that it was cutting its oil output by 500,000 barrels per day in March, or about 5% of its total production. The action is in response to the Western bans on Moscow's crude and oil products implemented in the past few months.    

The U.S. dollar was higher Friday as traders remain wary of next week's CPI data. That report measures inflation at the consumer level. A low number could see the dollar sharply fall, while a higher reading would send the Greenback higher as the central bank would feel justified with its higher rate strategy.    

For the week, we note that spot March is down a measly 0.16 cent, but it is also down 0.95 cent for the month. However, the market is up 1.90 cents on the year.    

Friday, March 2023 finished at 85.27 cents, down 0.23 cent, July settled at 86.07 cents, down 0.38 cent and December 2023, ended at 84.86 cents, 0.41 cent lower; estimated volume was 53,010 contracts.    

Keith Brown can be reached at commodityconsults@gmail.com 

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