NEW YORK: Cotton futures rallied on Tuesday hitting a near-five month high as worries over unfavorable growing weather in key growing regions in the United States heightened worry over tight supplies in the world's top exporter, dealers said.

The benchmark December contract rallied 1.64 cents, or 1.8 percent, to 91.72 cents per lb by 11:01 a.m. EDT (1501 GMT).

That was the highest price for the second-month contract since March 20.

"We have some more threatening weather heading toward cotton country," said Sterling Smith, a futures specialist with Citigroup in Chicago, noting a tropical disturbance moving through the Caribbean Sea.

"Rains have been hurting the quality of the cotton and the quantity that's being produced."

Expectations of low yields in the United States prompted the US Department of Agriculture to lower its forecast for US production in the 2013/14 crop year that began on Aug. 1 in it monthly report on Monday, prompting steep gains during the previous session.