COTTON: The 2016/17 U.S. cotton supply and demand forecasts show higher exports and lower ending stocks relative to last month. Production and domestic mill use are unchanged. The export forecast is raised 800,000 bales to 14.0 million, based on strong export sales during March. This would be the fourth-largest volume ever for U.S. exports, accounting for nearly 40 percent of world trade. Ending stocks are now forecast at 3.7 million bales, equivalent to 21 percent of total disappearance. The marketing year price received by producers is projected to average between 67 and 69 cents per pound, a reduction of 1 cent at the upper end of the range. The 2016/17 world cotton forecasts include higher production and ending stocks. Higher production estimates for China and Brazil are only partly offset by a slightly smaller crop in Australia. Lower expected exports for India, Australia, and Uzbekistan largely offset increases for the United States, Brazil, and Greece. World ending stocks are now projected at 90.9 million bales, about 400,000 bales higher than forecast a month earlier.
Source : USDA WASDE