ICE cotton futures rose for a second straight session on Tuesday, helped by higher oil prices and optimism over demand from top consumer China amid lingering supply concerns.

* Cotton contract for December (CTZ3) rose 0.51 cent, or 0.6%, to 87.51 cents per lb by 12:59 p.m. EDT (1659 GMT).

* "We're now basically just sideways, but it's finding a bit of buying momentum ...it could be a little bit of short covering going on," said Bailey Thomen, cotton risk management consultant with StoneX Group.

* "We've seen a slight recovery happening lately with China's recently released import quota showing an influx of buying activity from mills, so overall there's expectation that things will improve," Thomen added.

* China, one of the top consumers of U.S. cotton, sold 14,578.69 metric tons of cotton at state reserve auction on Sept. 18.

* Oil prices jumped over 1% on Tuesday to 10-month highs as weak U.S. shale output compounded supply concerns from extended production cuts by Saudi Arabia and Russia. Higher oil prices make polyester, a cotton substitute, more expensive.

* Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), in a weekly crop progress report on Monday, said 29% of the cotton crop was in good to excellent condition compared with 33% from last week.

* Elsewhere, Chicago corn slipped on Tuesday to remain at its lowest levels since December 2020 as an advancing U.S. harvest kept attention on ample international supply following a record Brazilian crop.