Chicago Board of Trade rough rice futures closed lower on Tuesday in a quiet session as the market awaited key crop reports from the US Department of Agriculture, traders said. Traders were reluctant to take strong positions ahead of the release on Thursday of the USDA's annual spring planting intentions and quarterly stocks reports, brokers said. CBOT May rice settled 4-1/2 cents lower at $7.12 per hundredweight, while the deferred months ended down 2 to 8 cents.
Sell stops were triggered in May rice below $7.10, pushing the contract to the day's low at $7.05. Volume was estimated by the exchange at only 179 contracts and 31 options. "It was minimal activity, and very lackluster," said Neauman Coleman, a broker from Brinkley, Arkansas.
The previous week, USDA had raised the price by 20 cents, a larger than expected increase that contributed to a rally in CBOT rice futures the following day.