NEW YORK, Jan 25 (Reuters) - U.S. cotton futures finished
lower Tuesday as speculative buying powered the spot contract
to a fresh record high, but that faded and back months sank as
a lack of support and fears of a slowdown in top consuming
countries such as China weighed on fiber contracts.

The cotton market had risen nearly 20 percent since
mid-January, driven by strong prices in top consumer China and
tight deliverable supplies in the U.S. cotton market.

The key March cotton contract on ICE Futures U.S.
fell 0.11 cent to close at $1.6183 per lb, with the contract
hitting a new spot record high at $1.6789. Total volume was
twice the 30-day average at 38,800 contracts, Thomson Reuters
preliminary data showed.

Spot March was driven by heavy speculative buying but the
rest of the board 'did not have the same support' and lost
ground as a result, said Sharon Johnson, senior cotton analyst
at brokerage Penson Futures.

Deferred contracts closed roughly 2 to 3 cents lower.
Some investors may be forced to pay up to get out of their
positions in the March contract, said Mike Stevens, an
independent analyst in Mandeville, Louisiana.

Other traders believe that the March contract aside, the
back months were also pressured by macroeconomic factors ,
with inflationary worries in top Asian consumers
such as China pressuring cotton contracts.

Overnight Chinese cotton prices were softer, with the key
September cotton futures on the Zhengzhou Commodity
Exchange last done at 31,505 yuan per tonne, down 445 yuan on
the day.

The market is waiting for the closely watched cotton
potential plantings survey by industry group the National
Cotton Council. The group will release the results of the
survey after the market closes on Feb. 4.

A Reuters survey at the Beltwide Cotton conference this
month had forecast U.S. 2011 cotton plantings at around 12.48
million to 12.53 million acres, which would be a five-year high
and an increase of around 15 percent from last year's 11.04
million acres.