Maize and wheat markets were little moved on Thursday‚ closing mixed‚ tracking prices on the Chicago Board of Trade.
“The weekly US Department of Agriculture supply and demand report released yesterday came out with better than expected crop forecasts and we have followed developments there‚ with the price of soybeans up sharply. Wheat was higher due to a weaker rand today‚” a trader said.
“The market was lethargic today‚ given the drop in the rand‚” he added.
The near-dated September white maize contract gained R3.00 to R2‚460 a ton‚ the December white maize contract shed R2 to R2‚526 a ton and the March 2013 white maize contract added R12.40 to R2‚535.40 a ton.
The near-dated September yellow maize contract was down R10 to R2‚485 a ton‚ the December yellow maize contract lost R2 to R2‚521 a ton and the March 2013 yellow maize contract dipped R3.00 to R2‚528 a ton.
The September wheat contract gained R60 to R3‚440 a ton‚ the December wheat contract also added R60 to R3‚518 a ton‚ and the March 2013 wheat contract was gained R78.00 at R3‚613 a ton.
Meanwhile US soybean futures jumped on Wednesday‚ after the government cut its forecast for the US crop's yield by more than analysts had expected‚ pointing to tighter supplies‚ Dow Jones Newswires reported.
In other markets‚ corn futures fell‚ as the USDA cut its yield forecast for the grain by less than expected. The USDA projected the worst national corn yield since 1995‚ at 122.8 bushels an acre‚ down from its August forecast of 123.4 bushels an acre. But analysts on average had expected a lower forecast of 120.6 bushels an acre.
The USDA left unchanged its forecast of 698 million bushels for US wheat inventories at the end of the 2012-13 marketing year. Analysts had expected a small increase. - I-Net Bridge