Chicago Board of Trade rough rice futures closed mostly lower on Friday, retreating from contract highs as speculators took profits, traders said. CBOT September rice closed unchanged at $9.61-1/2 per hundredweight, near its session low of $9.60. Most-active November ended down 1-1/2 cents at $9.89-1/2, turning lower after setting a contract high at $10.02.
The market rallied early on speculative buying after the US Department of Agriculture trimmed its 2006 US rice production estimate in its August supply/demand reports.
But R.J. O'Brien was a scale-up seller, slowing the advance. ADM Investor Services and Man Financial were featured sellers of November as it backed off the highs, traders said. Volume was estimated by the exchange at 979 futures and 240 options.
The USDA pegged the US rice crop at 197.2 million hundredweight, down from its July estimate of 200 million. The USDA lowered the average yield to 6,813 lbs per acre, and left its estimates of planted and harvested acreage unchanged.
Rice futures soared to two-year highs earlier in the week on rumours that the USDA might lower its planted acreage figure due to adjustments in the certified acreage data maintained by the US Farm Service Agency.
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