US rough rice futures on the Chicago Board of Trade closed lower on Thursday amid spillover weakness from the other grain markets, traders said. But rice held up well, underpinned by concerns that the fallout rains from Tropical Storm Gustav could delay the US rice harvest in the top producer Arkansas.
"The question is where is it going to hit and if there is going to be damage to the crop," said Neauman Coleman, an analyst and rice broker in Brinkley, Arkansas. "There is virtually no rice harvested in Arkansas. In Louisiana and Texas, they are going gangbusters trying to get as much out before the storm hits."