US rough rice futures on the Chicago Board of Trade closed higher on Wednesday, buoyed by rising Asian cash prices and a weaker dollar, traders said. January settled up 23-1/2 cents at $15.53 per hundredweight; deferreds up 2 to 24 cents. CBOT volume estimated at 1,251 futures and 40 options. Asia rice prices firm, set to rise further into early 2010.
USDA left its weekly world market price for long grain rough rice unchanged at $12.32 per hundredweight. [Some US traders away at USA Rice Federation's 2009 outlook conference in New Orleans, December 9-11.