SA Grains: Maize futures drop on record harvest

    Johannesburg, Feb 18 (I-Net Bridge) – Local white maize futures registered steep losses on Thursday, triggered by panic selling as result of a record harvest still in the hands of farmers, a local trader said.
    The March white maize contract dived 67 rand to 1,028 rand per ton, the May contract dropped 54.80 rand to 1,060.20 rand, and the July maize contract came off 54 rand to 1,093 rand per ton, according to I-Net Bridge preliminary data.
    The March wheat contract came off seven rand to 2,098 rand, with the May contract slipping eight rand to 2,132 rand. The July 2010 wheat contract also lost eight rand to 2,160 rand per ton, according to the data.
    “There was panic selling in the local market as a result of the very good looking crops,” a local dealer said.
    At 12:00, when the local grains market closed, the rand was stronger at 7.6295 to the dollar from 7.5962 at its previous close.
    Meanwhile, Dow Jones Newswires reports that Corn futures on the Chicago Board of Trade ended lower on Wednesday, backpedaling on profit taking pressure in the absence of fresh supportive news.
  March corn ended down 7 1/4 cents or 1.97% at $3.60 per bushel, and May corn ended 7 1/4 cents lower or 1.91% at $3.71 3/4 per bushel. Speculative fund selling was estimated at 7,000 lots.
  The market lacked fundamental support to sustain Tuesday’s rally due to large US supplies and big crops that are expected in South America, analysts said. The absence of a strong export demand base added to the defensive theme.
  The market retraced Tuesday’s gains, with speculative profit taking featured. Consolidative selling helped futures stay on the defensive, as a firmer US dollar discounted the broad based gains seen in commodities Tuesday on a weaker dollar, a CBOT floor analyst said.
  A quiet news front kept attention on outside markets, as traders see the market lacking any reason to push higher without a jump in demand.
  Otherwise, the corn market was seemingly content to stay in a recent trading range, with the downside limited after the recent break in prices, a CBOT floor analyst said. However, the upside is limited as well with a big U.S. crop in the storage bin, large South American production expected in the coming months, and a bump in 2010 U.S. acreage expected to be planted
this spring, he added.
  The DTN Meteorlogix weather forecast said some rain fell Wednesday in Argentina’s La Pampa and heavier rain is expected Thursday. That system will move north on Friday.
  US Department of Agriculture’s weekly export sales report, normally released on Thursday will be postponed until Friday, 8:30 a.m. EST due to Monday’s Presidents Day holiday.
   
    By Andries Mahlangu
    I-Net Bridge.
    Copyright 2009 I-Net Bridge. All rights reserved

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