May 16, 2008

South African corn down after losses in CBOT

South African white corn futures ended sharply lower Thursday following overnight losses on the CBOT.

The most active white corn for July delivery contract was 39 rand weaker at ZAR1,787 a tonne and December white corn slipped ZAR40 to ZAR1,916/tonne.

"The weather outlook in the US makes an upside move almost impossible at these levels. CBOT was down as result of that and we followed suit," one trader said.

Traders said the short-term outlook suggested more selling pressure in the local market due to improving weather in the US, but prices are likely to push as high as ZAR2,000/ton in the next few months to recoup soaring costs of production locally.

(US$1=ZAR 7.56)