U.S. Cotton Supplies to Fall on Stronger Demand From China; Prices Soar
- USDA cites higher-than-expected Chinese demand for the fiber
- Projected U.S. inventories trail lowest analyst estimate
A cotton harvest in Texas, on Aug. 23.
Photographer: Eddie Seal/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Cotton futures surged as much as 3.9 percent in New York after the U.S. government made a larger-than-expected cut to its estimate for domestic inventories, citing higher Chinese demand.
Inventories on July 31, 2017 -- the end of the current crop year -- will be 4.3 million bales, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a report released Wednesday. That’s 12 percent less than what the agency projected last month and trails the lowest estimate in a Bloomberg survey of analysts. The average estimate was for 4.87 million bales.