Oct 23 (Reuters) -ICE cotton futures gained on Wednesday, hitting their highest level in over a week, helped by reports of a likely fall in Indian cotton production owing to adverse weather and lower crop area.
* Cotton contracts for December CTZ4 rose 0.53 cent, or 0.74%, to 72.61 cents per lb at 11:08 a.m. ET (1508 GMT).
* There have been several reports out about the Indian crop being lower, India is a huge producer... so that's the primary thing that's pushing the market up a little bit, said Rogers Varner, president of Varner Brokerage, in Cleveland.
* India's cotton production in 2024/25 is likely to fall by 7.4% from a year ago to 30.2 million bales because of lower area and as excessive rainfall damaged the crop, a leading trade body said on Tuesday.
* Lower production will reduce exports from the world's second biggest cotton producer in the current marketing year started on Oct. 1 and force India to increase imports, supporting global prices.
* "I think the market will stay range-bound, and I do think if the Indian news is true, the market could try to run some stops at $0.74 on deck, but I don't think it'll get too far" Varner added.
* In the grains market, Chicago soybean and corn futures edged down on Wednesday after a two-day rally as a swift U.S. harvest countered support from an upturn in export demand.GRA/
* Traders now await the weekly export sales report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) due on Thursday.
* In a weekly crop progress report, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said 37% of the cotton crop was in good-to-excellent condition, compared with 34% a week ago.
Reporting by Anushree Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber