SA maize closed Wednesday’s session softer‚ tracking Chicago Board of trade figures lower and due to a stronger rand.
“We are following Chicago down‚ and we are down due to the rand having strengthened‚” a local trader said.
White maize for December delivery‚ the most active contract on the South African Futures Exchange‚ dropped R17 to close at R2‚439 a ton. Meal made from the grain is SA’s staple food.
Yellow maize for December delivery‚ the most active contract‚ shed R8 to close at R2‚477 a ton. The grain is used mainly as animal feed in SA.
Wheat for December delivery added R2 to close at R3‚562 a ton.
US grain futures settled barely changed on Tuesday‚ after negative technical signals and selling by speculative funds erased gains made earlier in the day‚ Dow Jones Newswires reported.
December corn rose one cent‚ or 0.1%‚ to US$7.38 1/4 a bushel. KCBT December wheat rose 1 1/2 cents‚ or 0.2%‚ to $8.82 3/4 a bushel.
Corn‚ wheat and soybean futures traded higher early on Tuesday after sharp declines in the previous two sessions. Traders said the declines had taken corn and soybeans into support on technical charts‚ and some were concerned prices had fallen too much given tight supplies after the severe US drought this year.
But corn and wheat futures weakened later in the morning and soybeans quickly pared their gains in the last minutes of trading on Tuesday‚ as traders said technical signals overall for the three commodities were negative‚ and speculative funds appeared to continue to sell futures to exit bets on higher prices. - I-Net Bridge