Falling cotton prices push U.S. cotton acreage to near lows

Bloomberg News reported on February 4 that analysts said that as cotton prices fell to a nearly five-year low in January, the cotton planting area in the United States, the world’s largest cotton exporter, will drop to the lowest level since 2009. In the season that started on August 1, cotton acreage dropped to 9.73 million acres from 11.04 million acres a year ago as farmers switched to crops such as peanuts, according to an average of data from a Bloomberg News survey. The National Cotton Council of the United States will announce the results of the planting intention survey on February 7. The International Cotton Advisory Committee stated on February 2 that cotton growers in the United States, India, and China will reduce cotton area, which will reduce global cotton production by 6% next year to 24.6 million tons, the lowest level in the past six years. Production will be 100,000 tons less than consumption.