World cotton production for 1999/2000 is forecast at 87.4 million 480-pound bales, up 3 percent from last year, despite the lowest world price in five seasons--averaging 48.2 cents per pound through early December of the 1999/2000 season, down from the most recent peak of 91.4 cents in 1994/95. World area is forecast to decrease 1 percent to 32.6 million hectares while the yield is up 5 percent from a year ago to 584 kilograms per hectare.