Chicago Board of Trade rough rice futures closed mostly lower on Tuesday after a lacklustre session that was thinly traded, floor traders said. There was little news to stir much trade interest, which kept volume light. May contract settled 1 cent up at $10.36 per hundredweight, with the deferred months down 1 to 2 cents.
March rice, which expires on Wednesday, did not trade. An estimated 132 futures traded, compared to 392 contracts that traded on Monday another lightly traded session.
Lingering worries about US rice exports, which lag a year ago by 22 percent, overhang the market. Global rice buyers have stirred away from American rice since the discovery of a biotech gene material in the US supply last summer.
USDA announced just last week it was in talks with Mexico, the No 1 buyer of US rice, regarding testing procedures and tolerance levels for genetically modified material after Mexico temporarily halted US rice imports amid GMO worries.
Overnight, there light March deliveries of eight lots with an Iowa Grain customer stopping seven.