USDA has probably overestimated cotton production, particularly in the US and India, where adverse weather in Jul-Aug may have damaged a reasonable portion of the crop. The agency would correct its forecast next month by lowering estimates for the world’s top two producers of the fibre crop. Last week, the USDA surprised global cotton experts when it raised the world cotton output forecast by 3.5 mln bales (1 bale = 480 pounds) to 120.75 mln bales from the previous monthly estimate. The forecast triggered a sharp downward correction in the US cotton futures hitting a lower price limit. USDA raised India’s output view to 30 mln bales, up 1 mln bale from the previous estimate, while the estimate for the US was raised to 21.8 mln bales from 20.5 mln bales.