Australian Ag Bureau Estimates 30 Percent Rise in Cotton Production

By Jim.Robinson|March 3, 2010

Bloomberg

By Wendy Pugh

Cotton production in Australia, the world’s fifth-biggest exporter, may rise 30 percent next season, boosted by greater water supply and rising prices.

Output may increase to 484,000 metric tons in the year to June 30, 2011, from 371,000 tons this season, the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics said in a report.

Cotton harvesting is forecast to increase as rainfall eases a prolonged drought that cut irrigation supplies. The states of Queensland and New South Wales have received beneficial rain since Christmas, according to industry group Cotton Australia Ltd. The fiber is mostly picked from March to May and the 2010- 2011 crop will be planted from October.