December cotton settled lower Tuesday, despite the ongoing threat of Hurricane Florence off the U.S. southeastern coast.

Despite the swirling of hurricanes across the Atlantic, with Florence the most pressing storm, December cotton settled lower Tuesday. Volume was an estimated 20,200 contracts. Besides the weather worries, traders were also positioning themselves for Wednesday’s supply-demand data, and for the possibility of additional U.S. tariffs on its trade war with China. The Trump administration has signaled it is prepared to implement some $200 billion in tariffs on imported Chinese goods.

USDA also published its crop condition/crop progress data Wednesday at 11 a.m. CDT. It was delayed from its normal Monday afternoon release due to “technical difficulties.” Essentially, it indicated the 2018 harvest is running ahead of its five-year average. It stands at 10% gathered versus 5% average. The overall crop is rated 38% good/excellent compared to the previous 41%. Also, the bolls open category for those states potentially affected by Florence seems to be about normal.

December cotton settled at 8289, down 96; March 2019 at 8331, down 86; and December 2019 was 7805, down 68 points.