Cotton rose to a record in New York after a U.S. government report showed global production will be smaller than previously forecast on lower output in Uzbekistan, the third-largest exporter. The March-delivery contract climbed as high as $1.8549 a pound on ICE Futures U.S. and was up 4.51 cents, or 2.5 percent, at $1.8509 at 11:58 a.m. Paris time. The fiber gained as much as the exchange maximum of 7 cents yesterday. World cotton output will be 115.25 million bales in the year ending July 31, down from 115.46 million forecast in January, with demand estimated at 116.55 million, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said yesterday. Production in Central Asia, including Uzbekistan, will fall to 7.02 million bales, against last month’s estimate of 7.17 million, the USDA said. “Yesterday’s USDA report was confirming current tight supply amid a steady increase in demand from China,” said Baek Youn Min, a broker for agricultural products at Korea Exchange Bank Futures Co. in Seoul. U.S. stockpiles on July 31 will total 1.9 million bales, unchanged from last month’s estimate, according to the report. Inventories were at 2.95 million bales in July last year. World stocks at the end of the marketing year will be 42.81 million bales, down from the previous estimate of 42.84 million, the USDA said. Chinese Mills Cotton more than doubled in the past year on shrinking global supplies and demand from mills, especially from China, the world’s largest user. Chinese cotton imports jumped 86 percent in 2010 as economic growth lifted textile-industry demand and adverse weather hurt domestic crop quality. China’s cotton-planting area this year may rise 9.8 percent to 84.55 million mu (13.9 million acres), the China Cotton Association said in a statement on its website today, citing a survey of farmers’ intentions. September-delivery cotton on the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange rose 1 percent to 33,650 yuan ($5,102) a metric ton after reaching a record 34,000 yuan yesterday. India will be the second-largest cotton exporter for the year that began Aug. 1, followed by Uzbekistan, according to the USDA. To contact the reporter on this story: Jae Hur in Tokyo at jhur1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Poole at jpoole4@bloomberg.net

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