South African maize futures ended Thursday's session in mixed territory as weather concerns and the weaker rand influenced the market.
The March 2012 white maize contract added R18 to R2,277 per ton, the May 2012 white maize lost R15 to R2,135 per ton, and July 2012 white maize rose R7 to R2,010 per ton, according to preliminary I-Net Bridge data.
The March 2012 yellow maize contract was up R7 to R2,312 per ton, the May 2012 yellow maize contract dropped R1 to R2,108 per ton and the July 2012 yellow maize contract was flat at R2,000 per ton.
The March wheat contract edged up R33 to R2,748 per ton, while May wheat accelerated R14 to R2,800 per ton, and the July 2012 wheat contract was R6 higher at R2,846 per ton.
“After the crop estimates I think there was a bit of positioning - we got support from the opening lows.”
“Weather remains critical going forward for the next two weeks. There is some cyclone activity to the north of the country and there's a bit of uncertainty over whether it will push through to the maize producing areas because they do need follow up rain and in some areas it's getting quite dry and this is affecting yields - that's probably why we saw a bounce back today.
“On the other hand, the weaker rand helped somewhat,” said grains trader said.
Meanwhile, Dow Jones Newswires said that corn futures were mostly seen following the soybeans higher on Wednesday, although corn had its own demand news Wednesday, as the USDA reported fresh optional-origin sales of corn to Mexico.
Support from that demand was offset in part by another weekly decline in ethanol production Wednesday, said Mike Zuzolo, president of Global Commodity Analytics and Consulting.
Wheat was also a follower, ending mostly higher amid short-covering. Analysts note that speculators, including hedge funds, have held a big net short position in wheat, enhancing upside moves as traders cover their short positions. - I-Net Bridge