Keith Brown DTN Contributing Cotton Analyst    

July cotton was materially higher as mill fixation buying ruled the day Wednesday. With spot July's delivery period a mere 20 trading sessions away, textile mills are having to buy the spot futures to offset previously established hedges. Thus, July was sharply higher and tugged new crop up as well. Of course, the rise with December is pretty much related to keeping the inter-crop spreads in balance.    

Thursday morning, USDA will issue its weekly export sales. For the past few weeks, China's activity has been noticeably reduced, while India has been the dominant buyer. In recent weeks, India has lifted import duties on foreign cotton, then has become an outright buyer of U.S. cotton to supply its textile industry.    

Speaking of India, it announced Thursday that it has no immediate plans to lift a ban on wheat exports. The world's second biggest producer of wheat recently banned private overseas sales, after an historic heatwave massively reduced output and domestic prices hit a record high.    

Weather-wise, the immediate forecast calls for no rain for West Texas, but the six- to 10-day holds better chances for rain, but also brings higher-than-usual temperatures.    

For Wednesday, July cotton settled at 145.16 cents, up 3.62 cents, December closed at 124.61 cents, plus 0.83 cent and March 2023 finished at 119.95 cents, 0.45 cent higher; estimated volume was 37,500 contracts.    

Keith Brown can be reached at commodityconsults@gmail.com 

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