South African maize futures ended the session mixed on Friday. A trader said the local market, and especially white maize, had stood up “quite well” compared to the US.
The May 2012 white maize contract was up R15 to R2,247 per ton, July 2012 white maize added R7 to R2,172 per ton, and September 2012 white maize dropped R5 to R2,193 per ton, according to preliminary I-Net Bridge data.
The May 2012 yellow maize contract was down R15 to R2,120 per ton, while the July 2012 yellow maize contract was off R2 to R2,102 per ton and the September 2012 yellow maize contract slid R13 to R2,122 per ton.
The May wheat contract was edged down R40 to R2,691 per ton, July receded R24 to R2,749 per ton, while the September 2012 wheat contract was down R19 to R2,780 per ton.
“The yellow stayed negative - there was a rush towards the end. For most of the morning we traded sideways. Our market has come down sharply over the last few days and we saw some short covering and new buying enter at these levels.
“Everything hinges on the US report this afternoon - the quarterly stocks and the area estimates - it could be priced in,” the trader added.
Meanwhile, Dow Jones Newswires reported that US corn futures dropped to a fresh two-month low on Thursday, pressured by technical selling and expectations for a large US crop this year.
Corn futures for May delivery fell 16 1/4 cents, or 2.6%, to US$6.04 a bushel at the Chicago Board of Trade, marking the contract's lowest closing price since January 18.
The decline left May corn down 6.6% from last Friday's closing price.
The selloff has been driven partly by managed funds selling futures to exit bets that prices would rise.
Many market participants have taken more cautious positions ahead of key crop-planting and inventory reports due out Friday from the US Department of Agriculture.
Corn futures falling past technical support levels had driven more selling.
Prices also fell as traders focused on expectations for the USDA on Friday to forecast high US corn acreage in 2012.
Meanwhile, wheat futures fell on technical selling and the weakness in corn.
CBOT May wheat closed down 18 1/4 cents at $6.12 1/2 a bushel, while May wheat dropped 16 cents to $6.54 a bushel at the Kansas City Board of Trade. - I-Net Bridge