April 22 (Reuters) - ICE cotton futures settled higher on Monday as the dollar weakened and tumultuous weather in the U.S. Southeast restricted progress in plantation of the natural fiber crop.

* The most-active cotton contract on ICE Futures U.S. July

settled up 0.2 cent, or 0.26 percent, at 78.47 cents per lb.

* It traded within a range of 78.03 and 78.84 cents per lb.

* “Uneven weather and heavy rains in (the) southeast has been making it very hard to get any cotton plantation progress in these areas,” said Jack Scoville, vice president at Price Futures Group in Chicago, adding that a weaker dollar was supporting prices as well.

* The dollar against a basket of other currencies dropped to a 4-day low in the session. A weaker greenback makes commodities priced in dollars, such as cotton, cheaper for holders of other currencies.

* “I think there is a chance we can see 80 cents. There has been improved expectations that export demand for cotton will continue,” Scoville said.

* Total futures market volume fell by 3,638 to 20,861 lots. Data showed total open interest gained 293 to 213,138 contracts in the previous session.

* Certificated cotton stocks <CERT-COT-STX> deliverable as of April 17 totaled 57,655 480-lb bales, up from 55,517 in the previous session.

(Reporting by Karthika Suresh Namboothiri in Bengaluru; Editing by Sandra Maler)