By Steve Stroth

April 12 (Bloomberg) -- Turkey, the world’s largest cotton importer after China, will boost output by 18 percent next year and increase purchases of overseas supplies, a unit of the U.S. Department of Agriculture said.

Production will rise to 2.065 million bales in the year that begins in August, compared with an estimated 1.744 million in the current period, the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service said today on its Web site. Imports will increase to 3.442 million bales from 3.213 million, the agency said.