The cotton market was moderately higher Thursday as traders prepared themselves for Fridays's acreage numbers.
Keith Brown | DTN Contributing Cotton Analyst
30 March 2023
The cotton market was moderately higher Thursday as traders prepared themselves for Fridays's acreage numbers.
In addition, the U.S. dollar was lower as, fingers crossed, the global banking crisis seems to be on the back-burner. This week's export sales highlighted fewer sales, but a bigger uptick in shipments. China was the top buyer with 85,000 bales, followed by Vietnam.
For Friday's Prospective Plantings, the average guess stands at 11.20 million acres. The range of estimates is 10.5 million to 12.7 million acres. USDA's Ag Forum was 10.9 million acres and the 2022 number was 13.8 million. The report will be out at noon EDT.
Also on Friday, the CFTC will update its Commitments of Traders information. For the last two weeks the report has revealed how the managed-money funds are building a net-short position. Supposedly, this is their first such short position since the spring of 2020. That data is out at 3:30 p.m. EDT. Crude oil was higher Thursday amid lower stockpiles and a halt to exports from Iraq's Kurdistan region.
Producers have shut or reduced output at several oilfields in the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq following a halt to the northern export pipeline by Turkey. Thursday, May 2023 finished at 83.50 cents, plus .74, July settled at 83.87 cents, up .67, and December 2023 ended at 83.88 cents, .63 cents higher. Thursday's estimated volume was 33,517 contracts. (Source: http://qualitygin.com)