NEW YORK, Sept 9 (Reuters) - Cotton futures fell for the
first time in five sessions on Friday, unraveling from the
prior session's two-month high, as investors gear up for a key
government crop report early next week.

The key December cotton contract on ICE Futures U.S.
fell 1.76 cents or 1.55 percent to finish at $1.1187 per lb,
after dealing between $1.1044 and $1.1425.

The price weakness originated in Asian markets, with the
three-month rolling cotton contract on the Zhengzhou
Commodity Exchange falling away from a six-week peak hit on
Thursday.

Chinese analysts expect the country's cotton output in
2011/12 crop year to be 7.4 million tonnes, 17.8 percent higher
than their estimate for 2010/11, according to a survey of six
analysts contacted by Reuters on Friday.

A less-than-inspiring weekly sales report from the U.S.
Department of Agriculture (USDA) added to the downside
pressure, analysts said.

'The shipments were just not all that impressive,' said
Mike Stevens, an independent cotton analyst in Mandeville,
Louisiana.

He also cited stiff technical resistance following the
market's breakout above the $1.13 level on Thursday.

Attention now will turn to the release of the USDA's
monthly supply/demand report on Monday, Sept. 12, especially
since most of the trade discounted the figure for U.S. 2011/12
cotton production in the August data as being too high.

Stevens said the report will 'likely have major price
implications as to near-term direction.'

Floods in major cotton producer Pakistan may have destroyed
up to two million cotton bales, or about 13 percent of its
estimated crop, government and industry officials said on
Friday.