October 16, 2009
Strong currency pushes down South African corn
Failing to take direction from a rise in Chicago Board of Trade prices, South African white corn futures ended sharply weaker Thursday (October 15) with the stronger local currency adding pressure.
The October corn contract lost 30 rand (US$4.10) to ZAR1,460, the December contract gave up ZAR30 to ZAR1,489 a tonne and the March contract declined ZAR31 to ZAR1,525/tonne, according to I-Net Bridge's preliminary data.
The October wheat contract was down ZAR39 to ZAR2,080/tonne, the December contract shed ZAR33 to ZAR2,115/tonne and the March contract was off ZAR34 to ZAR2,175/tonne, according to the data.
"We are sharply weaker today, the rand had a definite effect on the market," a trader said. "I also think there was some pricing activity from farmers with grain left in their silos, but the rand did definitely have an impact."
US$1 = ZAR7.25 (Oct 16)
