High prices cure high prices

摘要

DROUGHT in Texas and flooding in the Mississippi River delta launched the U.S. cotton crop with a shaky start. As a result, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has scaled back its early projection of an 18 million-bale 2011 crop by a million bales to 17 million bales in its June estimate. The crop likely will shrink further. By itself, faltering production should be price-friendly. However, USDA is also shaving its estimates for the 2010-11 world trade because of a decrease in imports and consumptionby China, as well as lower expected consumption in India.