By Elizabeth Campbell Sept. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Cotton futures rose, poised to match the longest rally since 1976, on concern that rain in the U.S. South may delay harvesting. A storm system will continue to soak parts of the lower Mississippi Valley and the South for most of this week, Accuweather.com said in a report. Before today, cotton jumped 27 percent this year on speculation that demand will outpace production. The U.S. is the world’s biggest exporter of the fiber. “The entire Cotton Belt is wet,” said Rogers Varner, the president of Varner Bros. in Cleveland, Mississippi. “We’re getting 2-inch rains. It just does a number on your quality. It delays harvest.” Cotton futures for December delivery rose 1.08 cents, or 1.7 percent, to 63.29 cents a pound at 11:50 a.m. on ICE Futures U.S. in New York. The commodity gained for the ninth straight session. A rally of that duration ended on May 11, the longest streak since June 1976. Earlier, the price reached 63.4 cents, the highest level for a most-active contract since Aug. 14. As of Sept. 13, about 35 percent of the crop was opening bolls, up from 25 percent a week earlier, U.S. Department of Agriculture data showed yesterday. The rain is helping West Texas, where the crop runs about three or four weeks behind in maturity, Varner said. “The rest of the Cotton Belt does not need these rains, and it is a soaking situation,” Varner said. “You don’t want water on your cotton. It takes a little bit of the oils out of the lint. It dulls the fiber.”

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