South African maize futures ended mixed on Friday, with older crop contracts coming under selling pressure while July contracts edged up.
The March 2012 white maize contract shed R14.20 to R2,466.80 per ton, the May 2012 white maize tumbled R80 to R2,203 per ton, but the July 2012 white maize lifted R20 to R1,981 per ton, according to preliminary I-Net Bridge data.
The March 2012 yellow maize contract was up R16.80 to R2,486.80 per ton, May 2012 yellow maize contract came off R44 to R2,175 per ton and the July 2012 yellow maize contract gained R25 to R1,955 per ton.
The March wheat contract was down R20 to R2,809 per ton, while May wheat edged down R14 to R2,866 per ton, and the July 2012 wheat contract shed R11 to R2,894 per ton.
When the local grains market closed, the rand was at 7.63 to the dollar, from 7.69 the previous session.
“The weather premium is still a factor, given the rainfall forecast this weekend. We are continuing to see more sellers on the nearby contracts. Most of the guys are rolling their positions into July contracts as maize stocks remain tight,” said a local dealer.
Dow Jones Newswires reported that US grain and soybean futures ended mixed Thursday, with wheat stumbling on forecasts for moderating weather for Europe and Russian crops.
Wheat crops in the Black Sea region and Eastern Europe are poised to get a break from bitter cold temperatures, a feature encouraging traders to reduce weather premium in the market.
Traders began taking profits after futures pushed to more than four-month highs on Wednesday. Concerns about European wheat were also eased by reports that some private weather forecasters said the crops had enough snow cover to limit crop risks, said Rich Nelson, director of research at advisory firm Allendale Inc.
“The cold weather is a great story for headlines, but may not produce the crop losses that traders were fearful of,” Nelson said.
Otherwise, activity was subdued, with investors content to sit on the sidelines awaiting new fundamental and economic directives.
“It was more of waiting game Thursday, with traders looking ahead to two big issues for Friday,” said Nelson. Investors are awaiting the announcement on a Russian grain export tariff and the US jobs report, which will signal how the US economy is fairing, Nelson said. - I-Net Bridge