NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Fervent buying lifted ICE Futures U.S. cotton to its
strongest levels in nearly two years, aided by bullish-demand ideas.

Most-active May cotton settled up 129 points, or 1.58%, at 82.46 cents a
pound.

Futures are trading at their highest levels since 83.75 cents in the week of
March 10, 2008. Futures have gained 3.21% since last Friday.

Cotton continues to rally as strong demand from textile mills meets continued
news of weaker-than-expected supplies, analysts said.

Futures gained on the back of news Thursday that China's 2009 cotton crop
dropped 15% from the year before to 6.4 million metric tons, according to their
National Bureau of Statistics. China is the world's top cotton producer and
importer. The country is also the top destination for cotton from the U.S., the
leading exporter.

"This may prompt the [U.S. Department of Agriculture] to lower its current
forecast of 32 million bales in one of its next reports," said Peter Egli,
director of risk management at Plexus Cotton Ltd. in Phoenix.

At the same time, China's cotton imports in January were almost four times
higher than in the year before.

Speculative traders, who have no use for the underlying commodity, are buying
bullish long positions on the news, driving prices higher.

May cotton could climb as high as 85 cents before falling back to 80 cents in
a correction, said Tom Mikulski, senior market strategist at Lind-Waldock in
Chicago.

The contract first faces resistance at 82 cents, said Jack Scoville, vice
president at Price Futures Group in Chicago.

ICE daily cotton stocks increased by 10,115 500-pound bales Thursday to total
552,817 bales with 54,606 bales awaiting review, according to exchange data.

ICE cotton open interest--the number of active positions left at the end of
the session--moved in by 4,182 positions Thursday to total 174,038, according
to the exchange.

Volume was estimated 20,208 lots. In options, approximately 12,385 calls and
8,521 puts traded, according to exchange data.

Close Change Range
Mar 82.61 +123 pts 81.67-83.29
May 82.46 +129 pts 80.66-82.58
Dec 74.42 + 45 pts 73.62-74.45