South African maize futures ended higher on Wednesday, due to a weaker local currency.
The rand has remained under pressure as the growing prospect of a Greek exit from the eurozone sent investors scurrying out of the 17-member currency.
The near-dated May 2012 white maize contract gained R30 to R2,085 per ton, July 2012 white maize lifted R29 to R2,079 per ton, and September 2012 white maize rose R34 to R2,107 per ton, according to preliminary I-Net Bridge data.
The near-dated May 2012 yellow maize contract edged up R39 to R2,018 per ton, and the July 2012 yellow maize contract inched up R30 to R2,034 per ton and the September 2012 yellow maize contract gained R35 to R2,065 per ton.
The May wheat contract edged up R27.20 to R2,754.20 per ton, July wheat was up R27 to R2,800 per ton, while the September 2012 wheat contract rose R31 to R2,857 per ton.
“We saw some big moves today. The weaker rand/US dollar exchange rate lent support to the market, the Greece situation being the main culprit - all this obviously positive for local prices,” a trader said.
Meanwhile, Dow Jones Newswires said that US wheat futures rose 2% on Tuesday, boosted by concerns about dry weather in overseas wheat-producing regions and a less optimistic government assessment of the US winter-wheat crop.
Tuesday's rally came after wheat prices mostly fell over the past two months.
A rise in corn futures lifted wheat prices as well. Many analysts say corn is currently the key price driver for wheat, as the two crops compete in the animal feed market.
“If you can figure out where corn is going to go, you can figure out where wheat is going to go,” said Sid Love, an analyst for Kropf & Love Consulting, an agricultural advisory firm in Kansas.
Corn futures rose as traders focused on drier weather conditions in the US creating a need for rain to support the crop.
While analysts expect a large US corn crop this year, the risk of adverse weather sometime before the harvest this fall helped boost prices, traders said. - I-Net Bridge