Sept. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Cotton futures gained the most in three weeks as export sales more than doubled from the U.S., the worldΆs top shipper.

In the week ended Aug. 29, net sales of upland cotton surged to 163,300 running bales from 68,800 bales a week earlier, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said today. China, the biggest consumer, bought more than half.

“The export numbers are very supportive,” Louis Rose, an industry consultant in Memphis, Tennessee, said in an e-mail. “We have significant sales to Asia” after indications that supplies from India and Australia may be more competitive, he said.

Cotton for December delivery advanced 1.1 percent to settle at 83.21 cents a pound at 2:30 p.m. on ICE Futures U.S. in New York, the biggest advance since Aug. 16. The price has risen 11 percent this year. A running bale weighs 500 pounds, or 227 kilograms.