April 11 (Reuters) -ICE cotton futures were little changed on Tuesday after a mixed federal monthly supply-demand report that forecast higher global output, and lower U.S. ending stocks for the 2022-23 marketing year.
Cotton contracts for May CTK3 fell 0.33 cents, or 0.4%, to 82.12 cents per lb by 12:36 EDT (1636 GMT). It traded between 81.9 and 83.07 cents a lb.
In its April World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) forecast 829,000 bales higher world production compared with March, "as a 1-million-bale increase for China more than offsets a lower Brazilian crop."
But for the U.S., it also showed "higher exports and lower ending stocks relative to last month, with production and domestic mill use unchanged."
The U.S. export outlook was raised 200,000 bales, to 12.2 million, while ending stocks were forecast at 4.1 million bales.
It was a "neutral to bearish report," said Keith Brown, principal at cotton broker Keith Brown and Co in Georgia, with cotton likely to head lower in the near-term.
Focus was also on export sales data due on Thursday, followed by U.S. retail sales numbers on Friday.
"Are we selling any apparel? That's the big question. I'm gonna say no... people having to make decisions on whether to buy gasoline and food as opposed to new clothes," Brown added.
Additionally, the U.S. dollar .DXY gained 0.2%, making cotton more expensive for overseas buyers. USD/
Meanwhile, "the weather forecast for the Mid-south and the southeastern states are expected to see mostly fine weather for fieldwork and planting over the coming 10 days," Louis Rose of Tennessee-based Rose Commodity Group wrote in a note.
China's agriculture ministry in a monthly report highlighted that cotton output will be slightly higher than last month's forecast at 6.18 million tonnes.
Reporting by Rahul Paswan and Ashitha Shivaprasad in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber