``India`s position as a prominent cotton supplier was questioned with the imposition of export duty and suspension of contracted shipments of cotton. However with the recent step by the government of lifting up the export restriction for the season starting from October has once again given optimism to the global market about one of the major suppliers to be back in business. With over 105 lakh hectares of acreage which is around 10% more than the last year acreage, the crop this year is expected to be over 325 lakh bales of cotton,`` said Basant Vaid, senior research analyst, Bonanza Commodity.

``This much of crop will surely pressurize the prices but more importantly it will adversely affect the segment that is involved in the production of cotton,`` he added.

``However the prices will sustain above the minimum support price supported by the government`s steps to lift up the export ban to boost up the export on unrestricted conditions. Prices will further be supported if the millers will raise their inventories finding it attractive to procure at the lower cost. But the pressure on prices is more likely to remain pulling prices down in the near term as the crops in the US, China, Brazil, Turkey and other producing countries are also higher than the previous years,`` he opined.