US rice futures on the Chicago Board of Trade closed lower on Wednesday on expectations for a pick-up in the harvest pace in Arkansas next week, traders said. CBOT November settled 5 cents lower $13.20 per hundredweight; January down 4-1/2 cents at $13.44-1/2. Rice bounced off its session lows as soybeans cut losses and corn rallied.
November rice dipped to $13.10, a one-week low, but stayed above its 100-day moving average of $13.08. USDA left its weekly world price for long-grain rough rice unchanged at $11.24 per hundredweight. Asian rice prices were flat despite waning export demand. Egypt extended its ban on rice exports to October 2010.Vietnam's largest rice exporter will stockpile 500,000 tonnes of milled rice to stabilise domestic paddy prices.