June 22 (Reuters) - ICE cotton futures fell for a 10th
straight session to the lowest level since early September on
Thursday as investors continued to liquidate positions on
bearish technicals amid expectations of rising new crop
production.

The December cotton contract on ICE Futures settled
down 1.43 cents, or 2.10 percent, at 66.74 cents per lb.
Prices plunged to their worst level since Sept. 1, at 66.72
cents per lb.

"After the market traded through the 200-day moving average
(last week), a closely watched indicator by big speculators and
hedge funds, they began the liquidation process," said Keith
Brown, principal at cotton broker Keith Brown and Co in
Moultrie, Georgia.

The contract remained in oversold territory with a relative
strength index (RSI) of about 17, well below the oversold level
of 30.

"The market is not going up any higher, so they are
abandoning the ship," Brown said.

The December contract fell amid concerns of a robust
production from the top-growing regions due to favorable weather
conditions.

"In India and Pakistan, production is set to increase by
around 1.5 million bales year-on-year in both countries due to
heavy rainfall and a larger acreage," Commerzbank said in a
note.

"However, it is the U.S. that is set to account for the
highest proportion of the global production increase in the
2017/18 season, with growth of 2 million bales (up 12 percent)."
Sales of upland cotton for the 2016/2017 crop year totaled
167,500 running bales of cotton in the week ended June 15, up
noticeably from the previous week, the weekly export sales data
from the U.S. Department of Agriculture showed.

"Cotton prices are still providing an attractive hedging
opportunity to farmers as we see upside risks to USDA estimates
for global cotton production given an extremely good crop rating
in the U.S., a strong start to Indian cotton planting and the
slowing pace of U.S. cotton exports," Societe Generale said in a
note. "Weather remains a key for cotton bears as favorable
weather across the world can push prices to 60 cents per lb."
Total futures market volume rose by 12,384 to 38,768 lots.

Data showed total open interest fell 1,808 to 204,966 contracts
in the previous session.

The dollar index was up 0.02 percent. The Thomson
Reuters CoreCommodity CRB Index , which tracks 19
commodities, was down 0.55 percent.

(Reporting by Swati Verma in Bengaluru; Editing by Leslie
Adler)