By Keith Brown DTN Cotton Correspondent
After a slow start to the first trading session of the new month, the cotton market got its act together and had a late session surge. In fact, the cotton market decently rallied even in the face of a strong performance by the U.S. dollar. Still, we would not over-read too much into the move. To date, there is no deal with China, and a surging dollar has never been a friend to U.S. agricultural exports. The reason is, it takes more of the other country’s currency to convert to U.S. dollars.
For the week, May cotton was about 0.90 cent. Some technical traders believe the first trading session sets the trading tone for the new month. Case in point was the month of February. The first day, February 1, saw the market take a sharp plunge from which it never recovered. Hopefully, Friday’s strong up day will prove friendly for the month of March.
There were 34 notices issued against the spot March contract. The majority of those tenders originated with BNP paribas, with Wells Fargo taking all 34 notices. March cotton will expire on March 7, or next Thursday.
Weather is becoming a slight concern for the 2019 crop. Too many fields in the south are too wet to take any sort of field work. Naturally, the 2019 crop will ultimately get planted, but a delayed crop during spring will leave it vulnerable to late season troubles such as hurricanes.
For Friday, May cotton settled at 73.85 cents, up 1.03 cents, July finished at 74.85 cents, up 0.86 cent and December settled at 73.78 cents, up 0.50 cent. Friday’s estimated volume was 22,800 contracts traded.
