South African maize futures finished weaker on Friday, tracking the lower Chicago corn prices, following the bearish US government crop report.
The near-dated May 2012 white maize contract shed R36 to R2,025 per ton, July 2012 white maize dropped R40 to R2,001 per ton, and September 2012 white maize lost R42 to R2,027 per ton, according to preliminary I-Net Bridge data.
The near-dated May 2012 yellow maize contract was off R29 to R1,957 per ton, the July 2012 yellow maize contract dipped R32 to R1,967 per ton and the September 2012 yellow maize contract shaved off R35 to R1,995 per ton.
The May wheat contract, however, edged up 80 cents to R2,700.80 per ton, July wheat erased R2 to R2,747 per ton, while the September 2012 wheat contract shed R5 to R2,805 per ton.
US corn futures closed lower on Thursday after the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) unexpectedly raised its forecast for near-term corn supplies and projected a record corn harvest, Dow Jones Newswires reported.
Chicago Board of Trade corn futures for July delivery, the most actively traded contract, fell 3.3% to $5.87 1/2 a bushel, the lowest price for that contract since March 2011.
In its monthly supply-and-demand report for major crops, the USDA said domestic corn inventories as of August 31, the end of the current marketing year, were likely to be 851 million bushels, up 6.2% from the agency's previous forecast of 801 million bushels.
None of the 19 analysts in a Dow Jones Newswires poll had expected the USDA to raise its forecast. - I-Net Bridge