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CBOT rice ends higher on short-covering

CHICAGO: Rough rice futures at the Chicago Board of Trade ended higher on Wednesday amid farmer short covering and bargain hunting, CBOT traders said.

CBOT rice settled 3 to 6 cents higher per hundredweight (cwt), with May up 5 cents at $5.75. New-crop November was up 6 cents at $6.84.

"We saw short covering by farmers and the buying of about 50 May contracts at the lows," one trader said.

"But when May fell to (the day's low of) $5.61, there was virtually no selling," he added.

He said the market was fundamentally weak, adding that the improvement in weather across the United States could reduce the expected decline in plantings this year.

The trader said E D&F Man International was an early seller in the May contract, while ADM Investor Services and Rosenthal Collins were buyers in new-crop months.

Rice futures volume was estimated by the CBOT at 400 contracts, compared to 1,013 traded on Tuesday.-Reuters