Chicago Board of Trade rough rice futures ended firm on Friday as commercial buying outweighed speculative sales, traders said.
CBOT rice futures settled up 3 cents to 5 cents per hundredweight. November closed up 5 cents at $6.78 per cwt and January ended up 3-1/2 cents at $6.94. Speculative selling from Reface Inc, Man Financial and RJ O'Brien weighed on prices, but commercials at Man Financial then bought January and February.
Rosenthal Collins bought January to the session's highs, paying $7.00 per cwt, a broker said. The January/November spread settled at 16 cents, after trading very lightly at 19 cents during the session.
Firm US cash rice prices, due to limited farmer sales, and steady to firm Asian rice prices also underpinned rough rice futures, traders said.
The US Department of Agriculture has forecast a record US rice crop this year, but farmers have sold little of it due to low prices.
Many farmers are also waiting until the new tax year to sell their freshly harvested rice. On Friday's CBOT open-outcry session was marked by a 40-minute halt in trading beginning at 11:30 a.m. CDT (1630 GMT) due to computer system problems, brokers noted.
Estimated CBOT rough rice futures volume on Friday was 145 contracts, compared with 723 contracts traded on Thursday. Options trade was estimated at two lots.
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