By Julie Wernau

Cotton prices continued to drop Wednesday on weak demand from China, once the world's largest importer of cotton.

Cotton for May delivery fell 1% to end at 57.41 cents a pound on the ICE Futures U.S. exchange.

"Everyone knows they are buying less, but that was a big drop in demand," Jack Scoville, vice president of Price Futures Group in Chicago, said in a note. "Southeast Asia is now the major buyer of U.S. Cotton and continues to support the market."

China holds the most cotton in stockpiles of anywhere in the world and has been attempting to unwind what it holds in storage, importing less.

In other markets, arabica coffee for May dropped 1.9% to end at $1.17 a pound, cocoa for May rose 1.4% to close at $ 2,929 a ton, raw sugar futures dropped 0.1% to end at 13.88 cents a pound and frozen concentrated orange juice futures for May dropped 0.9% to close at $1.255 a pound.