Chicago Board of Trade rough rice futures closed weaker on Tuesday on follow-through speculative selling, pressured by a 30-cent trading limit drop in wheat, traders said. November rice closed 4 cents per hundredweight lower at $11.52. January ended 4 down at $11.86 and March off 2 at $12.18.
Volume was moderate estimated at 1,368 futures, compared to Monday's volume of 1,211 contracts. The rice market has been tracking the moves in wheat this season in a fight for acreage. As wheat climbed to an all-time high of $9.66-1/2 per bushel this season, rice notched a 10-year top in the spot contract, trying to encourage farmers to plant rice.
It appears that farmers in the top Rice State of Arkansas are turning over a large percentage of their rice acres to soft red winter wheat given the higher returns for wheat, traders said. The US rice harvest was nearly complete. USDA reported late on Monday that 93 percent of the crop was off the field, near the seasonal pace of 94 percent for the third week in October.