US rough rice futures on the Chicago Board of Trade ended higher on Tuesday on a mild rebound from this week's slide to a five-month low, traders said. September closed 15 cents higher at $16.20 per hundredweight; new-crop November ended 15 up at $16.51. In options trade, firms were buying $15 November put options, typically a bearish move.
Firms continued to roll their September positions into November before the start of the delivery period at month's end. September/November spread traded at 8-1/2 to 9 cents. Rice along with other commodities have been under pressure from a general sell-off in commodities. Rice bucked the weaker trend in CBOT corn, crude oil and soybeans as the market was due for a technical bounce, traders said.
Consulting firm Informa Economics forecast the US rice crop at 204 million cwt and an average yield of 7,090 lbs per acre, traders said. That was down slightly from USDA's current outlook of 205-million-cwt output reflecting an average yield of 7,121 pounds per acre. USDA will issue its next forecast on August 12.
There were some mild concerns about possible damage to rice country as Tropical Storm Edouard hit the Texas coast. USDA said late Monday that US rice conditions improved in the past week - 71 percent in good to excellent condition, up from 70 percent the previous week. Bangladesh will distribute some 220,000 tonnes of rice among the poor for the next two months starting August 20, government officials said Tuesday.
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