Uzbekistan produced in January-July 660,874 metric tonnes of cotton fiber, 0.7% less than in January-July 2006, the state statistics committee said Tuesday.

The state-owned Uzkhlopkoprom association produced in 656,246 tonnes of cotton fiber in the period, down 0.5% from the year earlier, while enterprises with foreign participation produced 4,628 tonnes, compared with 6,016 tonnes.

In 2006, Uzbekistan’s cotton harvest fell by 3.2% on the year to 3.63 million tonnes and cotton fiber output fell by 1.4% to 1.171 million tonnes.