Johannesburg‚ Oct 29 (I-Net Bridge) - SA maize and wheat prices ended lower on Monday due to weaker Chicago Board of Trade (CBoT) figures on Friday.
"Electronic trading for grains in the US is still open‚ but the floor trading for grains will be closed due to the approaching Hurricane Sandy in on the US east coast‚" a local trader said.
US stock and options markets will be closed Monday due to Hurricane Sandy and there was a chance the markets would remain closed through Tuesday‚ Dow Jones Newswires reported.
Locally white maize for December delivery‚ the most active contract on the South African Futures Exchange‚ dropped R17 to close at R2‚481 a ton. Meal made from the grain is SA's staple food.
Yellow maize for December delivery‚ the most active contract for yellow maize‚ shed R22 to close at R2‚540 a ton. The grain is used mainly as animal feed in SA.
Wheat for December delivery dropped R13 to close at R3‚628 a ton.
Meanwhile corn and wheat futures in the US traded higher early on Friday‚ but weakened later in the morning‚ as traders said technical signals overall were negative‚ and speculative funds appeared to continue to sell futures to exit bets that prices would rise‚ Dow Jones Newswires reported.
Wheat futures slumped on Friday‚ as the market continued to lack signs that export demand for the US grain was picking up as production slowed in other regions.
Wheat futures had benefited in recent days from hopes that export demand for US wheat would pick up in coming weeks. Export competition from the Black Sea region is drying up as wheat supplies run low in Ukraine and Russia. Ukraine plans to ban exports starting next month after a drought curtailed production there.
December wheat futures ended down nine cents‚ or 1%‚ at US$8.63 3/4 a bushel at the Chicago Board of Trade.
Corn prices fell 0.6%‚ with the December contract settling down 4 1/4 cents at $7.37 3/4.
-I-Net Bridge