Chicago Board of Trade rough rice futures sank on Thursday on follow-through technical sales, with added pressure from reminders of a disappointing US export pace, traders said. May rice ended 9-1/2 cents per hundredweight lower at $10.13-1/2. The back months closed 10 to 14 cents weaker.
The US Agriculture Department reported that 78,200 tonnes of rice were sold for export last week. Included in the tally was 25,000 tonnes of rice sold to Cuba, which was viewed as a supportive sign, traders said.
"But we're still 600,000 (tonnes) behind last year in shipments," one rice broker said. "No matter how you slice it, it looks like the carry-over is getting heavier." Total US exports are off 21 percent from a year ago. Export business has been slow since last summer when a biotech gene material was found in the American rice supply.
Reduced 2007 US rice plantings would offset some of the burden of big stocks. Traders are waiting for the March 30 planting intentions report to get a better handle on how many acres US farmers will plant this spring, which is expected to be down from 2006. An estimated 822 futures and 47 options traded, compared to the 522 futures and 255 options that traded on Wednesday. Speculative selling was met by commercial buying by Mann Financial and RJ O'Brien.