China resumed buying U.S. upland cotton during the week ended April 19, after canceling purchases in the three previous weeks, Department of Agriculture data show.

China bought 90,964 running bales of upland cotton for delivery before July 31, making up 63 percent of the 144,805 bales sold to all foreign buyers during the week, the USDA wrote in a report on its website April 26. In the previous three weeks, cancellations resulted in a net reduction in Chinese purchases of 188,667 bales for delivery during the marketing year. A running bale weighs 500 pounds (227 kilograms). Upland is the most common type of cotton grown in the U.S.

The U.S. has exported 3.97 million bales of upland cotton to China this marketing year, 18 percent more than at the same time a year earlier, according to the USDA. China has bought about 191,946 bales for delivery after July 31.

To contact the reporter on this story: Whitney McFerron in Chicago at wmcferron1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Carpenter at