U.S. rice slides as Thailand taps stocks
CHICAGO (Reuters) - U.S. rice futures fell more than 4 percent on Tuesday, deepening a retreat from last week's record high as top exporter Thailand said it would release public stocks and traders anticipated Asian harvests.
However, news that India would tax basmati rice exports as part of a series of measures unveiled on Tuesday to tame inflation and secure food supplies was supportive, traders said.
Chicago Board of Trade rice for May delivery fell $1 per cwt to $22.30 by midday. There is no limit in the nearby month on Tuesday, first position day for May futures deliveries. Most of the other months tumbled the maximum daily trading limit of 75 cents.
The rice market was technically weak -- a trend that started late last week when it rallied to a record top above $25, followed by a limit-down move. Rice has seen a series of record highs this month on fears of tight world supplies and strong demand.
"Rice prices have nearly doubled this year and that strong rally is triggering some sell-offs," said a trader at Samsung Securities.
Thailand's domestic rice prices dropped by 1,000 baht to 25,000 baht ($791) a tonne on Tuesday after the government said it would gradually release 2.1 million tonnes of stockpiled rice onto the domestic market to fight rising inflation.
But Asian traders cautioned that the surge may not be over, especially with a big rice tender for 675,000 tonnes from the Philippines still to fill.
CBOT WHEAT/SOY/CORN SLIDE
Other CBOT markets were also sliding, following the trend in crude oil and gold, traders said.
The CBOT corn market was the most immune to the sell-off after surging to an all-time high during the Asian trading session on planting delay jitters in the United States, the top corn producer and exporter.
"It just seems like a general commodity market weak day," said analyst Randy Mittelstaedt of Chicago trade house R.J. O'Brien.
May wheat was down 36-1/2 cents at $7.89-1/2 per bushel, May soybeans were 16-1/2 lower at $12.67 and CBOT May corn was 11 cents lower at $5.89 per bushel. Overnight, the corn market notched a record top of $6.59 in the July 2009 contract.
Only 10 percent of the U.S. corn crop was seeded by Sunday, far below the seasonal average of 35 percent by late April.
U.S. corn planting is off to its slowest start since 1999 as a cool, wet spring prevented farmers from getting into their fields, grain analysts say.
"It's very scary," Mittelstaedt said. Continued...
