The Chicago Board of Trade rough rice market reached a 3-1/2 month low on Tuesday on follow-through technical selling from Monday, traders said. July, September and January made contract lows during the session. The weakness in the other CBOT markets added to the sell-off in rice, traders said.
July rice closed 6 cents lower at $6.51 per hundredweight, while September was down 3-1/2 cents at $6.76 per bushel. The new low in July is $6.45 and in September it is $6.60.
The July/September spread traded at 22 to 22-1/2 cents as traders continued to roll their July positions before first notice day on Thursday.
Reface was an aggressive seller of rice, while commercial buying by Man Financial helped bring the market off its lows, traders said. Volume was large estimated at 1,926 futures and 24 options.
The US Department of Agriculture said late on Tuesday it left its weekly world market price for long grain rough rice unchanged at $6.03 per cwt.