South African maize futures ended lower on Monday, with older crop contracts coming under more selling pressure as market players exited their positions.
New crop contracts however lost only marginally, boosted mainly by patchy rainfall in the country, said Thys Grobbelaar, dealer at Senwes.
The March 2012 white maize contract slid R75 to R2,389 per ton, the May 2012 white maize tumbled R80 to R2,140 per ton, the July 2012 white maize lost R7.80 to R1,974.20 per ton, according to preliminary I-Net Bridge data.
The March 2012 yellow maize contract came off R44 to R2,437 per ton, May 2012 yellow maize contract shed R80 to R2,105 per ton and the July 2012 yellow maize contract slipped R3 to R1,948 per ton.
The March wheat contract was down R19 to R2,782 per ton, while May wheat edged down R22 to R2,848 per ton, and the July 2012 wheat contract shed R19 to R2,875 per ton.
When the local grains market closed, the rand was at 7.60 to the dollar, from 7.63 the previous session.
Dow Jones Newswires reported that US grain and soybean futures ended mixed on Friday, with soybeans rallying on smaller South American crop forecasts.
Soybean futures climbed for the fourth straight day, as the combination of firm cash market prices and shrinking South American crop potential fuelled advances.
The most active March contract rose to its highest level since October on continuation charts.
The uncertainty of South American production, with crops in Argentina and Brazil suffering through a severe drought in December and January, has traders questioning the region's production potential.
The corn futures ended higher, climbing in the last few minutes of trading on spillover support from soybeans and near-term supply concerns.
With soybeans rallying on South America worries, traders say corn risks losing acreage in the US if prices don't keep up and give farmers the incentive to plant it.
CBOT March corn ended up 1 1/2 cent to $6.44 1/2 a bushel. - I-Net Bridge