Aug. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Cotton fell, capping the biggest weekly drop in 15 months, on concern that bigger supplies in Asia will cut demand for fiber from the U.S., the worldΆs top exporter.
Cotlook Ltd. yesterday boosted its estimate for world output by 0.6 percent from a month earlier because of improving crop prospects in India, the second-largest grower and shipper. The Indian currency touched an unprecedented 65.56 per dollar in Mumbai yesterday, according to prices from local banks compiled by Bloomberg.
“We have some real concerns that thereΆs going to be more cotton in India,” Louis W. Rose, an industry consultant in Memphis, Tennessee, said in a telephone interview. “The weak rupee is going to make their exports more attractive.”
Cotton for December delivery fell 0.1 percent to settle at 84.08 cents a pound at 2:30 p.m. on ICE Futures U.S. in New York. This week, the commodity plunged 9.9 percent, the most since May 2012.
In the season started this month, U.S. shipments were already projected to drop 19 percent from a year earlier as production declines, the Department of Agriculture said. Imports from Pakistan, the worldΆs fourth-biggest grower, may tumble this year as a jump in stockpiles help counter a potential fall in output, Khalid Abdullah, the nationΆs cotton commissioner, said in an interview. China is the biggest producer and importer.