Cotton futures, already trading at a record, may jump another 17 percent after prices topped their historical trading range, according to a technical analysis by independent analyst Jim Stellakis.

Weekly price charts show cotton has traded mostly between 30 cents and 97 cents a pound in New York since 1972, Stellakis said. The fiber began to exceed that 67-cent trading range in September on a “mix of fundamentals,” signaling another rally by that same amount, he said. Futures will rise to $1.64 a pound in the next month or so from today’s record of $1.4052, he said.

“If a market stays between two levels for a long period of time, initially you would expect it to move by that range total when it broke up or down,” said Stellakis, whose analysis of coffee futures in July correctly predicted that commodity would reach a 13-year high.

Cotton prices have more than doubled in the past 12 months, reaching the highest level since the fiber began trading in New York 140 years ago, mostly because of a widening production deficit in China, the world’s largest user.

Cotton for December delivery rose today to a record $1.4052 on ICE Futures U.S. in New York, after gaining the exchange maximum of 5 cents, or 3.7 percent.

Once prices reach the top of their new 67-cent trading range, they are likely to tumble, Stellakis said by telephone from New York.

In technical analysis, investors and analysts study charts of trading patterns and prices to predict changes in a security, commodity, currency or index.