Chicago Board of Trade rough rice futures closed lower on Monday on lingering sales from the government's bearish US acreage report issued on Friday, traders said. July closed 6 cents lower at $10.33 per hundredweight, September settled 4-1/2 lowers at $10.63 and November ended 6 cents down at $10.94.
The market was still reeling from the US Agriculture Department boosting its rice-planting estimate to 2.744 million acres, above its March forecast of 2.644 million.
Traders had expected a reduction from the March report. In 2006, American farmers planted 2.838 million rice acres. Outright trade was slow with spreading featured as firms rolled November positions. In world news, Indonesia expects its rice production to rise to 55.13 million tonnes this year from 54.45 million tonnes in 2006.

Copyright Reuters, 2007

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