UK-based Cotton Outlook has raised its forecast for global cotton output for 2017-18 (Aug-Jul) to 26.03 mln tn from 25.86 mln tn forecast earlier. The rise in global output estimate comes on the back of an increase in India’s cotton production estimate to 6.63 mln tn from 6.55 mln tn and for China to 5.4 mln tn from 5.3 mln tn. The delayed withdrawal of the south-west monsoon failed to dent optimism. Cotton Outlook or Cotlook, named after its flagship benchmark global cotton price index, is the publisher of news and prices of global cotton market.