Jan 7 (Reuters) - ICE cotton futures extended gains from the previous session on Tuesday, supported by higher crude oil prices and improved demand.
* Cotton contracts for March CTc1 rose 0.3 cent, or 0.44%, to 68.98 cents per lb at 10:56 a.m. ET (1556 GMT).
* "Crude oil is pushing up. The demand for cotton is a little better now... I don't think the market is going to gain prices rapidly, but I do think it will gain slowly," said Rogers Varner, president of Varner Brokerage.
* Oil prices reversed early declines on Tuesday, supported by fears of tighter Russian and Iranian supply in the face of escalating Western sanctions. O/R
* Higher oil prices make cotton-substitute polyester more expensive.
* "It seems like some of this move could be related with buying back of short futures from the speculative traders," said Bailey Thomen, cotton risk management consultant at StoneX Group.
* Elsewhere in the grain market, Chicago corn and soybeans fell as forecasts of rain relief for Argentina crops encouraged traders to book profits after dollar-fueled gains in the previous session, traders said. GRA/
(Reporting by Anmol Choubey in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)
((anmol.choubey@thomsonreuters.com;))
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