The Annual Planting Intentions survey by the National Cotton Council estimates U.S. cotton acres will expand near 10 percent in 2017, compared to 2016. The survey projects 11.0 million acres of cotton will be planted in the U.S. this year. An analyst with the National Cotton Council says the increase in acreage is “largely the result of weaker prices of competing crops and improved expectations for water.” Meanwhile, world cotton mill use is expected to exceed world production in 2017, and global cotton stocks are projected to decline by 7.7 million bales. The majority of the global stocks decline is due to China’s reduced inventories. While China’s increased consumption of reserve stocks has bolstered mill use in 2016, it also has curbed China’s demand for imported cotton, leaving global market price implications unclear.
From the National Association of Farm Broadcasting news service.