South African maize futures rose on Monday, in line with corn prices on the Chicago Board of Trade, amid dry weather concerns in wheat producing regions.
The near-dated May 2012 white maize contract added R40.20 to R2,118.20 per ton, July 2012 white maize lifted R59 to R2,131 per ton, and September 2012 white maize gained R49 to R2,153 per ton, according to preliminary I-Net Bridge data.
The near-dated May 2012 yellow maize contract rallied R64 to R2,095 per ton, the July 2012 yellow maize contract jumped R60 to R2,097 per ton and the September 2012 yellow maize contract was up R61 to R2,125 per ton.
The May wheat contract shot up R60 to R2,915 per ton, July wheat climbed R62 to R2,948 per ton and the September 2012 wheat contract rose R69 to R3,012 per ton.
Meanwhile, US wheat futures surged to an eight-month high on Friday, capping a dramatic rise last week fuelled by concerns about dry weather in key global production regions including the Great Plains and the former Soviet Union, Dow Jones Newswires reported.
Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures for July delivery soared 5.7%, to US$6.95 1/4 a bushel, the highest settlement for the front-month contract since September 15. The front-month closing price was up 17.3% for the week.
Forecasts for dry weather also include Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, parts of Europe, China and Australia.
Corn futures rose on the back of wheat's rally and on stronger cash markets. The CBOT July corn rose 1.7%, to $6.35 1/2 a bushel. - I-Net Bridge