China 2010 cotton output falls by 6.3 percent

BEIJING (Commodity Online) : World’s largest cotton consumer, China’s cotton output of cotton dropped by 6.3% year on year to 5.97 million metric tons in 2010.
According to figures released by China’s National Bureau of Statistics, country's plantation area of cotton decreased by 100,000 hectares to 4.85 million hectares last year.
Domestic cotton price experienced a sharp increase last year, due to the expectation of a decline in output. The Chinese cotton price index hit a record 31,302 per metric ton on Nov. 11 last year, having increased nearly 100% from the beginning of last year.
In 2010, China's cotton imports hit 2.84 million metric tons, 86% more than that in 2009. China issued a total of 3.59 million metric tons of cotton import quota last year.

(Source: http://www.commodityonline.com/news/China-2010-cotton-output-falls-by-63-percent-36861-3-1.html)