Cotton prices have soared to a 25-year high. At ICE Futures U.S., cotton currently trades at 93.73 cents a pound, up 24% this year and the highest since Oct. 1995. 'Demand continues to grow; it's the supply that's in question,' says Ronald Lawson, managing director of LOGIC Advisors, a commodities consulting firm.

Global cotton consumption is estimated to outstrip output this year, further drawing down cotton's stocks, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. On the supply side, Pakistan, the world's largest cotton grower, suffered heavy crop losses due to floods, while, India recently imposed a prohibitive tax on cotton exports to protect domestictextile manufacturers.

Cotton's rally bodes well for the economic recovery, as it is the longest leading economic indicator of all the commodities. From a bag of cottonseeds to a T-shirt, it takes about 18 months as it goes through planting, ginning, spinning and weaving. 'No other raw material takes that long and is influenced by that many different things,' Mr. Lawson said.

Carolyn Cui

• director [di´rektə] n.指导者；....长；导演 (初中英语单词)
• output [´autput] n.产品；产品；计算结果 (初中英语单词)
• agriculture [´ægrikʌltʃə] n.农业；农事 (初中英语单词)
• domestic [də´mestik] a.家庭的；本国的 (初中英语单词)
• consumption [kən´sʌmpʃən] n.消耗；结核病 (高中英语单词)
• recovery [ri´kʌvəri] n.重获；获得；恢复 (高中英语单词)
• spinning [´spiniŋ] n.纺织 a.纺织品的 (高中英语单词)
• drawing [´drɔ:iŋ] n.画图；制图；图样 (英语四级单词)
• textile [´tekstail] a.纺织的 n.纺织品 (英语四级单词)
• grower [´grəuə] n.种植者，栽培者 (英语六级单词)