Rough rice futures at the Chicago Board of Trade closed lower on Thursday on follow-through weakness from the day before, traders said. Most of the session featured pre-report positioning ahead of the government's monthly crop reports to be released on Friday, they said. September rice settled 6-1/2 cents per hundredweight lower at $6.81.
November rice closed 6 cents down at $7.05.
Volume was light estimated at 330 futures, compared to 351 lots traded on Wednesday. Weekly export sales data was viewed market neutral, traders said.
The US Department of Agriculture reported on Thursday that 58,900 tonnes of US rice were sold for export last week. Included in the tally was a small amount of rice, 300 tonnes, earning marked for Iraq.
Cash markets were quiet and remained soft.
The weakness put US rice offers at competitive levels for fresh export business, traders said. There were mixed views among traders and analysts late on Thursday of whether the USDA will cut or expand its US rice crop estimate currently at 221.0 million cwt.
Those anticipating the government to trim production pointed toward this year's lower US rice crop ratings, while those expecting USDA to up its forecast referenced talk of strong harvest yields from Louisiana and Texas.
In world news, Thailand, the world's largest rice exporter, said on Thursday it would hold a tender on August 15 to sell 500,000 tonnes of rice from government stocks.
CBOT traders said the news had little impact on CBOT prices as the market had been awaiting the Thai government to make the announcement.
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