Uzbekistan, the world’s second biggest cotton exporter, gathered 3.6 million tonnes of raw cotton so far this year compared to 3.63 tonnes in the whole of 2006, an Agriculture Ministry official said on Tuesday.

The official said farmers had already met the official state target for this year and will complete harvesting in two or three weeks.

In a similar period last year, Uzbekistan gathered 3.6 million tonnes of cotton. Officials expect this year’s harvest to exceed last year’s.

In September, the government estimated the Central Asian state produced 1.00-1.05 million tonnes of fibre after processing raw cotton, down from 1.17 tonnes in 2006.

Exports in the 2007/08 season are expected to be reduced to 750,000-800,000 tonnes from 880,000 tonnes in the previous season due to increasing domestic consumption.