NEW YORK: ICE cotton futures fell on Monday as a spike in coronavirus cases in the United States stoked demand concerns for the natural fiber, ahead of the release of the planted acreage data.

The most active cotton contract on ICE Futures US, the third-month December contract, fell 0.21 cent, or 0.4%, to 59.29 cents per lb by 12:05 p.m. EDT (1605 GMT). It traded within a range of 58.85 to 59.72 cents a lb.

"There are a lot of demand worries; the number of coronavirus cases are expanding in the US, throwing various states into doubt," said Jack Scoville, vice president at Chicago-based Price Futures Group.

The contagion, which has infected over 2.5 million people in the United States and killed 125,000, has drastically reduced demand for apparel, sending prices of the natural fiber tumbling 16% so far this year.

Investors are now awaiting the US Department of Agriculture's acreage report on Tuesday. A Reuters poll shows analysts estimate 13.153 million acres of US 2020 cotton plantings.

"We're going to have less production than we expected at the beginning of the year, but with demand as uncertain as it is, we're probably getting close to the higher end of values. I expect fairly narrow trade between 50-60 cents for a while," Scoville added.

The USDA's weekly crop progress report is due later in the day.

Cotton speculators raised their net long position by 935 contracts to 1,487 in the week to June 23, data from the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission showed.

Total futures market volume fell by 1,987 to 6,441 lots. Data showed total open interest gained 268 to 159,197 contracts in the previous session.