Mali misses 2015-2016 cotton output target due to late rain

BAMAKO (Reuters) - Mali has missed its 2015-2016 production target for raw cotton by 100,000 tonnes because of late rains, the state-owned CMDT cotton company said Friday. The West African nation is the continent's second-largest producer after Burkina Faso. CMDT said it had produced 550,370 tonnes of raw cotton, about even with last year's crop but significantly less than its 650,000 tonnes target. "(During) the period of sowing cotton...there was little rain, which caused losses," said Ousmane N. Traore, a technical adviser for the company. "In addition, at the end of the season, the rain continued even though they should have stopped, which caused damage to the crop." (Reporting by Tiemoko Diallo; Writing by Makini Brice; editing by Susan Thomas)