CANBERRA (Dow Jones)--Production from the Australian cotton crop...

CANBERRA (Dow Jones)--Production from the Australian cotton crop to be
harvested in coming months was revised up to 551,000 metric tons Tuesday from
a Nov. 30 estimate of 533,000 tons, according to the government's Australian
Bureau of Agricultural & Resource Economics.

Output in 2005 is forecast to be up 58% from actual production of 349,000
tons from the crop harvested in 2004, it said in its quarterly Crop Report.

Cotton is grown in Australia only in New South Wales and Queensland states.

The cotton crop usually is planted in spring of one calendar year and
harvested in autumn of the next.

The rise in production forecasts reflects the impact of above-average rains
in November and December, which boosted availability of irrigation water
supplies and lifted soil moisture levels, which underpinned expanded
plantings, Abare said.

Abare estimated plantings for the current crop at 315,000 hectares, up
sharply from the actual 198,000 hectares for the previous crop.

Most local cotton production is exported.

-By Ray Brindal, Dow Jones Newswires;