Chicago Board of Trade rough rice futures settled higher on Thursday as speculative and commercial buying followed early price weakness, brokers said.
"There was fund selling of new-crop and liquidation of July," one CBOT pit trader said. "But then we saw scale-down buying."
CBOT rice ended on Thursday up 3 cents to 8-1/2 cents per cwt, with old-crop July up 7 cents at $9.37 and September up 8-1/2 cents at $8.46. The selling of July rice positions proceeds first notice day for deliveries against the front month contract on Wednesday, June 30.
Last trading day for CBOT July rice futures on Wednesday, July 21. There were 543 rice contracts registered with the CBOT late on Wednesday, down from the previous day's tally of 561 lots, a supportive factor as it indicated increasing demand for rice, the trader said.
Registration of a contract with the exchange does not guarantee delivery against the futures contract.
Reports of good US rice crop development this spring limited gains in CBOT rice futures, pit brokers said. The US Department of Agriculture late on Monday said US rice conditions improved by 2 percentage points, with 69 percent of the crop rated in good to excellent condition as of Sunday.
CBOT rough rice futures estimated volume on Thursday was 903 contracts, compared with 920 contracts traded on Wednesday. Options trade was estimated at 126 lots.
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