US rough rice futures on the Chicago Board of Trade rose on Thursday on spillover strength from the soy market coupled with a weaker dollar, traders said. A weak dollar makes US commodities less expensive for overseas buyers. Weekly export sales data also supportive. There was lingering support by USDA's monthly crop data that included a smaller 2009 US rice output forecast.
July rice ended up 18-1/2 cents at $12.96 per hundredweight. September closed 16 up at $12.93. Option moves were supportive with firms buying November $15 calls -traders. CBOT July soybeans ended up 21 cents, or 1.7 percent at $12.67 a bushel on tight US stocks.
US weekly rice export sales strong at 117,700 tonnes (all old-crop). Trade talk was Iraq bought 60,000 tonnes of South American rice and 30,000 tonnes from Thailand in its recent tender. They also may have bought rice from Vietnam and India. There was no official confirmation.