Johannesburg - South African white corn declined for a third day on speculation demand will be eroded after prices climbed to a record.
White corn for delivery in March fell 0.1 percent to 3,160 rand ($285) a metric ton on the South African Futures Exchange, down from the all-time high of 3,365 rand on February 3.
The yellow variety for July delivery rose 0.1 percent to 2,216 rand a ton.
“Prices where overheated,” Brink van Wyk, a trader at Pretoria-based BVG, said by phone today.
“No one could afford the prices at those levels, it had to come down.”
White corn rose to the record as national stockpiles fell 25 percent by December 31 from a year earlier, the Pretoria-based South African Grain Information Service said January 24.
South Africa is the continent’s largest producer of corn, also called maize.
Meal made from the white variety is used for a staple food known locally as pap and yellow corn is mostly fed to animals.
Wheat for delivery in March rose 0.6 percent to 3,848 rand a ton.
Soybeans for delivery in May climbed 0.8 percent to 6,039 rand a ton. - Bloomberg News