By Shruti Date Singh

Feb. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Cotton prices rose the most in three weeks in New York, halting a five-session slide, on speculation that sales will rise to importers including China, the world??s biggest buyer and textile maker.

U.S. export sales have ??increased a little bit?? in the past two weeks to China, Taiwan and Turkey after slowing in the previous few months, said Angie Goodman, president of exporter ACG Cotton Marketing LLC in Lubbock, Texas. The U.S., the world??s largest cotton exporter, probably will report a rise in sales to overseas buyers for the week ended Feb. 12, she said.

??Cheaper prices and the fact that mills are low on raw cotton inventory?? are helping to boost demand for cotton, Goodman said. ??They are buying what they have to buy. It??s still hand to mouth.??

Cotton futures for May delivery rose 0.42 cent, or 0.9 percent, to 45.1 cents a pound on ICE Futures U.S. in New York, the biggest gain for a most-active contract since Jan. 26. The price fell 11 percent in the previous five sessions, reaching a two-month low yesterday, as the Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index tumbled to the lowest since June 2002.

Cotton still has fallen 36 percent in the past year as the global recession eroded demand for clothing and textiles. The CRB index, which today sank to the lowest since June 13, 2002, has plunged 48 percent in the past year.

??Speculative selling is easing up?? while traders and mills are still buying fiber supplies, said Andy Ryan, a risk- management consultant for cotton broker FCStone Group Inc. in Nashville, Tennessee. ??Chinese mills since the lunar holiday have been buying for nearby needs. We are getting a round of hand-to-mouth buying?? from other Asian countries such as Pakistan, the second-largest importer, he said.

The Department of Agriculture is scheduled to report weekly U.S. export sales on Feb. 20.