South African maize futures were firmer on Thursday, as the weaker rand continued to support prices.
The January 2012 white maize contract shot up R28 to R2,727 per ton, the March 2012 white maize contract soared R36 to R2,686 per ton, while July 2012 white maize leapt R50 to R2,122 per ton, according to preliminary I-Net Bridge data.
The January 2012 yellow maize contract ended R64 firmer to R2,725, the March 2012 yellow maize was R49 stronger at R2,630 per ton and the July 2012 yellow maize contract gained R44.60 to R2,079.60 per ton.
The January wheat contract was flat at R2,762 per ton, while the March wheat climbed R6 to R2,808 per ton, and the July 2012 wheat contract was unchanged at R2,855 per ton.
At 12:30 the rand was at R8.21 to the US dollar from R8.13 previously.
“We've received some good support from the local currency, which is around the 8.20 level against the greenback. US corn was down but it looks like the rand weakness cancelled out the negative impact on our prices,” a trader said.
Meanwhile, Dow Jones Newswires reported that US grain and soybean futures were mixed on Wednesday, with soybeans continuing to draw support from South American crop uncertainty.
Soybean futures shunned the selling pressure seen in corn and wheat futures, as traders maintained risk premium in the market amid lingering fears dryness could curb yield potential for South American crops.
Corn, wheat and soybeans all stumbled initially, succumbing to pressure from forecasts calling for light rain showers to move into parched areas of Argentina next week.
A firm US dollar added weakness to limit buying as well.
However, soybeans quickly stepped out of the shadow of a negative price theme filtering through grain markets.
South American soybean crops are still ahead of their key development period, and looking deeper into January, crop weather remains iffy, a feature that make traders cautious of production cuts there, said Bill Nelson, analyst with Doane Advisory Service.
Traders and analysts are drawing parallels to past South American weather problems, where crop production dropped from early season forecasts due to hot, dry conditions that persisted over the growing season, Nelson added. Traders are comfortable sustaining risk premium in prices to account for threats to Argentina and Brazil's soybean yields, particularly with some private forecasters beginning to lower their expectations for South American crops.
Soybean futures also drew support from end users such as processors buying price breaks.
End users from exporters to processors view price pullbacks as buying opportunities, fearful that a crop scare in South America could lead to tighter world supplies and higher prices, said Dave Marshall, independent broker and marketing advisor.
Meanwhile, wheat futures led a retreat in grain futures, as traders took profits on recent gains.
Wheat continues to suffer from poor fundamental outlooks, as ample world supplies and heavy competition in global export markets paint a bearish picture for US wheat at current prices.
Wheat was also pressured by improved conditions for the next US wheat crop.
State crop reports released on Tuesday afternoon showed conditions overall improving in key states, with potential for strong winter wheat yields possible nationwide, analysts said.
CBOT March soybeans ended up 2 1/2 cents at US$12.30 a bushel. Corn for March delivery at the Chicago Board of Trade ended unchanged at $6.58 1/2 a bushel.
CBOT March wheat ended down 1% or 7 cents at $6.50 a bushel, KCBT March wheat finished up 1 1/2 cents at $7.14 and MGEX March wheat finished 5 1/4 cents lower at $8.39. - I-Net Bridge