India's cotton industry will see a drop in exports in the current year, according to figures from the U.S. Department of Agriculture as well as the Cotton Association of India. The U.S. agency foresees a 60 percent decline to 5.7 million bales of cotton. While a drop, that is still 1 million more bales than previously forecast. One bale is 170 kilograms of cotton. The Indian group, which has slightly different figures, expects a 45 percent drop in exports to 12.8 million bales. It says the decrease is due to the struggling international economy and a big drop in orders from China, which makes up 65 percent of India's cotton exports. Bangladesh, Pakistan and Vietnam are also major importers of Indian cotton. For the year ending in July 2013, total production is expected to be down to 32.5 million bales because of storm damage in India's third-largest cotton-producing state, Andhra Pradesh. The USDA said that export registrations reached 450,000 bales through the end of November, and the Indian government didn't intend to set any restrictions on registration. Preliminary estimates, however, put exports in October and November at 700,000. The USDA expects the rate of exports to grow in the next few months.

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