South African maize futures rallied on Monday, in line with international corn prices, following the release of two bullish US government crop reports on Friday.
The May 2012 white maize contract jumped R72 to R2,317 per ton, July 2012 white maize soared R80 to R2,248 per ton, and September 2012 white maize surged R80 to R2,278 per ton, according to preliminary I-Net Bridge data.
The May 2012 yellow maize contract rallied R80 to R2,185 per ton, while the July 2012 yellow maize contract lifted R75 to R2,170 per ton and the September 2012 yellow maize contract gained R66 to R2,188 per ton.
The May wheat contract was up R24 to R2,720 per ton, July rose R33 to R2,781 per ton, while the September 2012 wheat contract was unchanged at R2,755 per ton.
Robert Steynberg, a trader at Vrystaat Koöperasie Beperk, said: “It is all to do with the spike in corn prices on the Chicago Board of Trade after the bullish crop reports.”
Meanwhile, Dow Jones Newswires reported that US corn futures rose by the maximum allowed in a day and soybeans hit a fresh six-month high as reports from the federal government renewed concerns about tight supplies of the crops.
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) released two closely watched reports, one detailing how much grain is in domestic storage as of March 1, and the other projecting how many acres farmers will plant this spring [in the US] of major crops such as corn, soybeans and wheat.
A lower-than-expected inventory figure for corn caused prices to shoot higher, even though the USDA also said farmers are likely to plant the largest US corn crop in 75 years.
Corn for May delivery settled the limit of 40 cents higher, up 6.6%, at $6.44 a bushel at the Chicago Board of Trade.
The USDA's storage report put corn inventories at 6.01 billion bushels, 8% lower than a year ago and below market expectations. The supplies raised fears corn supplies will run low before the harvest, particularly as demand remains strong both at home and abroad.
For soybeans, the USDA expects soybean plantings to drop 1% to 73.9 million acres this year. Analysts on average had expected a slight increase in acreage. - I-Net Bridge