South African maize futures ended marginally lower on Wednesday, weighed down mainly by the firm rand to the US dollar, and lower international corn spot prices.
The local currency firmed to 7.74 to the greenback intraday, from 7.83 previously.
The May 2012 white maize contract was down R3 to R2,172 per ton, July 2012 white maize slipped R6 to R2,113 per ton, and September 2012 white maize lost R41 to R2,120 per ton, according to preliminary I-Net Bridge data.
The May 2012 yellow maize contract was off R11 to R2,055 per ton, while the July 2012 yellow maize contract shed R19 to R2,052 per ton and the September 2012 yellow maize contract dipped R13 to R2,085 per ton.
The May wheat contract was down R19 to R2,678 per ton, July wheat lost R19 to R2,742 per ton, while the September 2012 wheat contract was down R12 to R2,782 per ton.
Meanwhile, corn was pushed down further on Tuesday by chatter before a US Department of Agriculture announcement (USDA) that it found mad-cow disease in a California dairy cow. Corn and wheat can both be used in animal feed.
CBOT May corn fell 4 1/4 cents to US$6.18 1/4 a bushel.
Wheat futures rose early in the session on concerns that cold temperatures could damage US yields in coming days, but fell later on rumours before the USDA mad-cow announcement.
CBOT May wheat fell 1/2 cent to $6.24 1/2 a bushel. - I-Net Bridge