U.S. cotton supplies in 2017 will be smaller than previously forecast because of rising prices and larger-than-expected purchases in China, the world’s biggest buyer, a government report in Washington showed. Inventories on July 31, 2017, will be 4.3 million bales, 12 percent less than projected last month and below the lowest estimate in a Bloomberg survey of analysts, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in the report released Wednesday. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg expected the supply would be 4.9 million bales, according to their average estimate, little changed from the USDA’s forecast in September. The government raised its estimate of Chinese consumption to 35.5 million bales from 35 million last month.