NEW YORK, Sept 15 (Reuters) - Cotton futures posted their biggest
one-day loss in three weeks on Thursday, under pressure from disappointing
export sales figures that continued to show cancellations in the crop.

'China canceled 200,000 ... it just continues to confirm that we are
not selling any cotton,' said Keith Brown of Keith Brown and Co. in
Moultrie, Georgia.

The key December cotton contract on ICE Futures U.S. fell 2.05
cents or 1.8 percent to finish at $1.1162 per lb, its largest daily decline
since Aug. 25, when it shed 1.9 percent of its value.

The session range ran from $1.0942 to $1.1483.

Despite the negative tone, analysts such as Brown were surprised just
how well cotton managed its losses given the greater liquidation pressures
in its peer markets.

'By all rights we should have been limit down, particularly with corn,
beans and wheat sharply lower,' Brown said.

U.S. grain and soybean futures tumbled sharply on active fund selling
after crop-damaging frost concerns in the U.S. Midwest eased and technical
pressures mounted.

'The positive has to be that the (cotton) market came back today. There
is a little bit of underlying demand.'

In looking at that demand outlook, China will issue low-tariff import
quotas of wheat, rice and corn as well as cotton for 2012, with volumes
unchanged from 2011, the National Development and Reform Commission said
Thursday.

Technical trading was also at play with the market's failure to
penetrate key trend line and moving average resistance.

(Graphic: http://link.reuters.com/wes73s )

'Last week's high was $1.1547. If we can close over that then we will
suddenly side-step the linebacker and we're in the secondary ... we'd be
able to run from there,' one cotton broker said.

Volume Wednesday increased to 14,239 lots from the previous session's
count of 11,975 lots, ICE Futures U.S. data showed.