June 28, 2007

Following CBOT's lead, South Africa corn futures end lower

South African white corn futures ended weaker Wednesday in tandem with sustained weakness on the US grain market, although a softer rand capped losses.

South Africa followed CBOT (the Chicago Board of Trade) but the rand gave some kind of support, a Johannesburg-based trader said.

He said there was no noticeable reaction to the South African Department of Agriculture's Crop Estimates Committee report, which Tuesday maintained the corn production forecast at 7.05 million tonnes.

Traders were watching the harvest progress for more clues about the production.

The South African Grain Information Service Wednesday said corn yields for the current commercial season rose by 64,000 tonnes to 497,000 tonnes last week, compared with yields the week before.

So far, farmers have delivered 3.3 million tonnes to silos. Local farmers have harvested 2.031 million tonnes of corn since October last year, about 91,000 tons away from the projected 2.122 million tonnes.

The benchmark July white corn contract ended 25 rand lower at 1,670 rand and December white was off 23 rand to 1,761 rand.

Dow Jones Newswires reported that July corn declined 1 1/4 cents lower to US$3.56 1/2 per bushel, September finished unchanged at US$3.67, and December rose 1 cent to US$3.75.