Rice futures rose the most allowed by the Chicago Board of Trade on expectations for lower production from Thailand, the world�s biggest exporter, because of flooding.
Output from Thailand�s main harvest, which started in October, may drop 5.3 percent, the Office of Agricultural Economics said last week. As of Dec. 16, U.S. export sales in the marketing year that started Aug. 1 were 22 percent higher than a year earlier, government data show. A state-run South Korean agency said it purchased 168,905 metric tons of the grain last week from unspecified sources.
�Asian destinations are more aggressive buyers of U.S. rice,� said Roy Huckabay, an executive vice president for the Linn group in Chicago.
Rice futures for March delivery rose by the exchange limit of 50 cents, or 3.7 percent, to close at $13.88 per 100 pounds at 1:15 p.m. on the CBOT. Yesterday, the price touched $13.33, the lowest for a most-active contract since Nov. 29.
The commodity has jumped 43 percent since the end of June as flooding damaged crops in Thailand and Pakistan.