Chicago Board of Trade rough rice futures closed lower on Monday on light speculative selling, traders said. Spreading was the day's feature as firms continued rolling September positions forward. September rice ended 6 cents lower at $10.27 per hundredweight.
New-crop November fell 5 cents to close at $10.62, with light sell-stops triggered as the contract dropped below $10.65, traders said. Back months ended down 4 to 7 cents. The September/November spread traded mostly at a carry uudecode in two to three weeks whether to import more rice this year after a prolonged dry spell.
The Philippines is one of the biggest rice importers in Asia. Arthur Yap said in a television interview the government was studying all options to prevent disruption in supplies after an unusually dry rainy season hit rice harvests.
After the CBOT closed, the US Department of Agriculture said 74 percent of the US rice crop was rated in good to excellent condition, up from 73 percent the previous week.