Chicago Board of Trade rough rice futures closed higher on Monday on slipover strength from a limit-up move in CBOT wheat futures that buoyed the entire CBOT grains floor, traders said.
November rice closed up 18 cents at $9.85 per hundredweight, with the back months up 5 to 18 cents. RJ O'Brien was a featured buyer of November, January and March, while locals and Rosenthal Collins were sellers, traders said.
Locals tried to press the rice market but failed amid the firm tone in outside grain markets. CBOT December wheat closed up the 30-cent daily trading limit at $4.94 per bushel, while December corn settled up 18-1/2 cents at $2.89-1/2 after hitting its 20-cent limit at $2.91.
Volume was estimated by the CBOT at 698 rice futures and 59 options, up from Friday's official totals of 265 futures and three options. Traders were adjusting positions ahead of the US Department of Agriculture's release on October 12 of updated supply/demand estimates. The USDA in September lowered its estimate of US 2006-rice production to 193.3 million hundredweight, down from 197.2 million in August.