Cotton Drops as Inventories in India Climb； Orange Juice Gains

Cotton fell to the lowest price in a week on signs that supplies are increasing in India, the world’s second-largest producer, as global demand slackens. Orange-juice futures rose.

A.B. Joshi, India’s textiles commissioner, said that cotton inventories may total 5.25 million bales on Oct. 1, compared with 2.75 million estimated in February. A bale in India is 375 pounds, or 170 kilograms. Prices have plunged 56 percent since touching a record in March, as consumption slumped in China, the leading grower and importer.

“There hasn’t been any return of demand yet,” Chris Kramedjian, a risk-management consultant at FCStone Fibers & Textiles, said in a telephone interview from Nashville, Tennessee. “Until we see a real turnaround, I’m not going to expect a bottom to the market.”

Cotton for December delivery fell 1.88 cents, or 1.9 percent, to settle at 96.76 cents a pound at 2:44 p.m. on ICE Futures U.S. in New York, after touching 95.13 cents, the lowest since July 18, and is headed for the fourth straight monthly drop, the longest slump since a July-through-October slide in 2008. The price touched a record $2.197 on March 7.

Orange-juice futures for September delivery rose 1.45 cents, or 0.7 percent, to settle at $1.9875 a pound on ICE. The commodity has gained 36 percent in the past year.

Bloomberg