CBOT Revises Rice Futures Contract

The Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) today announced changes to the exchange's rough rice futures contract which will ensure the contract reflects the primary quality of rice traded in the domestic and export market and which will enhance the contract's price discovery and risk management benefits. These revisions were developed with input from a broad cross-section of the rice industry, including growers, millers, merchandisers, and food processors.

The revisions to the CBOT® Rough Rice futures contract specifications to a No-Heat, No-Stain product were recently approved by the CBOT Board of Directors and certified to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The new contract will be implemented beginning with the September 2003 and subsequent contract months.

In particular, the new specifications reduce the maximum number of stained kernels, as defined by USDA FGIS Interpretive Line Slide 2.1, permitted in a 500-gram sample from five to zero and increase the maximum number of lightly discolored kernels, as defined by USDA FGIS Interpretive Line Slide 2.2, permitted in a 500-gram sample from ten to seventy-five. No heat-damaged kernels as defined by USDA FGIS Interpretive Line Slide 2.0 are permitted in a 500-gram sample.

The CBOT Rough Rice futures contract, which was launched in 1994, has traded 166,541 contracts year-to-date, compared to 103,332 contracts traded during the same period last year. For more information on CBOTt products, please log on to www.cbot.com.