China will begin sales of cotton stockpiles next month, and the auctions will continue through August. Chinese officials announced last week total sales will not exceed two million metric tons. China plans to gradually reduce stockpiles to a “reasonable” level and prices are expected to be more attractive than in auctions last year. China tried to sell one million tons of cotton last year but fell far short, selling only 63,000 some tons because buyers considered the asking price too high. China will sell most of the cotton to domestic buyers, but the sale could impact global prices by reducing foreign cotton demand from Chinese buyers, according to the Wall Street Journal. China ended up with about 60 percent of the world’s cotton stockpiles after it introduced a program in March of 2011 that buys domestic cotton at a set price above those set by the global market.