China, the world's top cotton consumer, is likely to produce 5.1 percent less of the fibre this year due to lower acreage and bad weather, a Ministry of Agriculture official was cited as saying on Thursday.

Output from the harvest due this month was seen at 6.315 million tonnes, down 337,000 tonnes from the previous year, Xiang Yu, an official from the ministry's planting department, told a conference. His speech was posted on the China Cotton Association.

Cotton acreage fell for the second year in a row this year, while persistent drought in July and August in central China also hurt the crop, Xiang was cited as saying.

The ministry's estimate was lower than a previous estimate by the China Cotton Association, which put this year's output at 6.93 million tonnes.