DTN Closing Cotton            07/21 13:43

   Cotton Market Closes Over 80-Cent Mark Tuesday

   The cotton market was able to push up and over the 80-cent mark Tuesday. 

Keith Brown
DTN Contributing Cotton Analyst

   The cotton market was able to push up and over the 80-cent mark Tuesday. The 
basis for that feat was that some traders are becoming spooked over the 
prevailing growing conditions in West Texas. That area has not received any 
rain in recent days, and now newly named Tropical Storm Bertha looks like it 
will bring heavy rains to the Coastal Bend area, but not West Texas. In fact, 
that part of Texas will be absent of rain for the next week.

   On Thursday, USDA will issue its weekly export sales report. Last week's 
business was bearish in that net sales for the current season were 34,000 
bales, a marketing-year-low effort. Weekly shipments were 214,900 bales and off 
7% weekly.

   This Friday, the Commerce Department will release its New Home Sales data at 
10 a.m. EDT. This report, along with the Housing Starts report, play key roles 
in domestic consumption of cotton products.

   Also on Friday at 3:30 p.m. EDT, the CFTC will update its Commitment of 
Traders information. Last week saw the managed-money funds buying in some 
10,500 positions, further enhancing their net-long carry to 49,688 contracts.

   Crude oil jumped nearly 2% Tuesday amid fresh attacks by the U.S. on Iran. 
In addition, there are threats of a blockade of the Red Sea by Yemen's Houthis. 
Overnight, U.S. forces bombed targets in southern Iran as punishment for the 
deaths of American soldiers. Meanwhile, Iran is targeting American bases in 
Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan.

   For Tuesday, December closed at 80.42 cents, up 150 points; March 2027 
finished at 81.74 cents, plus 145 points; and July 2027 settled at 82.26 cents, 
128 points higher. Tuesday's estimated volume was 28,096 contracts.

   Keith Brown can be reached at commodityconsults@gmail.com




(c) Copyright 2026 DTN, LLC. All rights reserved.