By Julie Wernau

Cotton prices slumped to end at a one-year low Monday with China, the world's second-largest cotton importer, and most of southeast Asia on holiday.

Cotton for March delivery dropped 0.6% to 59.60 cents a pound on the ICE Futures U.S. exchange, its lowest close since Jan. 30, 2015.

At the same time, a survey by the National Cotton Council found farmers expected to plant more cotton this year in the U.S., up 6.2% to 9.11 million acres versus 8.58 million acres planted in 2015.

Analysts had expected an even larger increase of about 1 million acres with alternative crops in the country's largest growing region, Texas, trading at such low levels that cotton is being treated as a best-of-the-worst alternative.

Last year, cotton ended the year up 6% in the futures market; whereas, corn and soybeans dropped 10% and 15% on the year, respectively, motivating farmers to choose cotton over other crops, Commerzbank said in a note.

In other markets, raw-sugar futures for March rose 1.4% to end at 13.45 cents a pound, cocoa for March delivery closed up 3.1% to $2,858 a ton, arabica coffee futures fell 3.9% to end at $1.1575 a pound and frozen concentrated orange juice for March slumped 1.3% to close at $1.3335 a pound.