June 14 (Reuters) -Cotton futures edged up on Friday while investors rolled over their positions from the front-month contract, as the natural fibre was headed for its third consecutive weekly fall.
* Cotton contracts for December CTZ4 rose 0.45 cents, or 0.6%, to 72.24 cents per lb by 12:00 p.m. ET (1600 GMT).
* "I think it's a combination of the final bit of rollover in prices, both months are low enough that you're attracting sales for US cotton in both crop years," said Louis Barbera, partner and analyst at VLM Commodities.
* "Cotton is the worst performer of any commodity... so we're just getting a little bit of a reprieve on a market that's been beat down worse than anyone."
* A weekly U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) report showed export sales of 186,600 running bales (RB), up 19% from the last week. EXP/COT
* The primary destination for exports was top consumer China with 73,400 RB, the report added.
* "They (China) buy when it's cheap and right now, US cotton is very cheap," added Barbera, noting that "it'll be a slower grind down and all of it depends on how the US crop shapes out."
* In its June outlook, China's agriculture ministry had raised its forecast for cotton imports in the 2023/24 crop year by 200,000 tons, as per a government crop report.
* Extending support, Brent oil futures prices ticked higher and were on course for their best week in more than four months after projections for solid crude oil and fuel demand in 2024. O/R
* Higher oil prices make cotton-substitute polyester more expensive.
Reporting by Rahul Paswan in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore