Cotton futures fell back as the US Department of Agriculture upgraded ideas of production in Texas, as well as India. 

In its latest monthly Wasde report, the USDA saw US cotton production at 16.16m 480-pound bales, up from an estimate of 16.03m bales made in October. 

This was down to a sharp rise in prospects for the crop in Texas, the top US cotton-growing state, partially offset by decreases for production the South East.

Prices take a tumble

US ending stocks were seen at 4.50m bales in 2016-17, up from an earlier forecast of 4.30m bales. 

And, at a global level, the USDA lifted supply hopes too, raising estimates for production and season-end stocks, mainly due to a 500,000- bale increase for the India crop, bringing world production up to 103.3m pound bales.

World cotton stocks were seen ending the season at 88.3m bales, an upgrade of nearly 1m baes from last month's forecast. 

Prices fell back on the report, with December cotton futures in New York dropping from 69.08 cents a pound ahead of the briefing to 67.87 cents a pound immediately afterwards.

December futures later recovered some ground to stand at 68.27 cents a pound in afternoon deals, a drop of 0.7% on the day. 

Indian importance downplayed

Indeed, cotton analyst Louis Rose, speaking to Agrimoney, said the higher global ending stocks figure was "not a concern". 

"Most of the increase has come from India, which not major exporter," said Mr Rose.

Moreover, India exported low-quality cotton, while the US exported a high-grade version, he said.

"As India is not exporting to Pakistan, there won't be a great impact to markets," Mr Rose said.

"A 1m-bale rise may seem a lot, but it isn't," he said.