Rough rice futures at the Chicago Board of Trade closed higher on Tuesday on spillover speculative buying from Monday amid concerns that possible fallout rains from Hurricane Ivan could damage the US rice crop and stall harvest, traders said.
But the market moved off its highs by the close on lessening concerns about possible crop damage, as it appeared Hurricane Ivan could hit the Gulf of Mexico east of rice country.
Hurricane Ivan was forecast to reach the US Gulf Coast on Wednesday or Thursday.
A hurricane watch was in effect for the Northern Gulf of Mexico coast from east of Morgan City, Louisiana, eastward to St. Marks, Florida. This included the greater New Orleans area.
CBOT rough rice futures closed 2 to 3 cents per hundredweight higher.
September was 3 cents higher at $7.77 and November was up 3 at $7.76. While speculators were net buyers, commercials were on both sides of the market.
Farmer-hedge sales surfaced when November climbed to the $7.85-$7.89 range.
Estimated volume was moderate at 587 futures and 112 options. US Department of Agriculture reported late on Monday that 43 percent of the US rice harvest was complete, up from 27 percent last week.
In Arkansas, the top rice producer, 32 percent of the crop was harvested. After the close, USDA said it left the weekly world market price for long grain rough rice unchanged at $6.10 per cwt.
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