The cotton market closed higher Wednesday, albeit on slack volume, as it awaits Thursday’s weekly sales and exports data. With the end of the 2018-19 season rapidly approaching, it’s hard to think it will be a dramatic transition. Nonetheless, there might be some old crop sales rolled into the new crop, and if not, there stands to be cancellations. To that end, China continues to conduct domestic auctions as a primary means of punishing the U.S. for its trade sanctions.

The market is also anticipating next week’s U.S.-China trade talks in Shanghai. The most likely result of that meeting will not be final trade deal, but perhaps China will indeed follow-through on her G-20 promise to purchase substantial quantities of US Farm products.

There is a so-called tropical thing out in the Gulf of Mexico, which bears watching. As of now, it may or may not form into any sort of serious storm, but seems to be content to hug the Gulf coastline for now.

For Wednesday, December cotton settled at 64.32 cents, up 0.59 cent, March finished at 65.12 cents, up 0.60 cent and December 2020 went out at 66.28 cents, up 0.30 cent. Estimated volume was 16,800 contracts traded.