Rough rice futures at the Chicago Board of Trade closed slightly lower on Friday, with strong weekly exports underpinning prices, traders said. "They were good exports and sales. It kept the market from continuing its downward spiral," one rice broker said.
July rice closed 1 cents per hundredweight higher at $10.31, after sliding about 40 cents or 3.6 percent since last on Thursday, the day before USDA forecast US rice plantings at 2.744 million 100,000 acres more than its March forecast.
September ended 1-1/2 cent lower at $10.58-1/2 and November closed 1 weaker at $10.90. Trade was light and scattered among Rosenthal Collins, Man Financial and RJ O'Brien.
An estimated 430 futures and 42 options traded. That compared to 872 futures and 149 options that traded on Thursday. USDA reported that 146,000 tonnes of US old-crop rice was sold for export last week. Export shipments were at 79,700 tonnes, more than double last week's tally. There was only one July contract was delivered overnight, a supportive factor, traders said.