White maize falls to 13-month low

File image: Reuters

File image: Reuters

Published Mar 17, 2014

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Johannesburg - White corn futures in South Africa declined to a 13-month low on plentiful supplies.

The contract for delivery in July dropped 2.3 percent to 2,080 rand a metric ton, the lowest price on a closing basis since February 12, 2013.

The yellow variety fell 1.9 percent to 2,177 rand a ton.

Farmers in South Africa, the continent’s biggest producer of corn, also called maize, will probably harvest 12.4 million tons this season, according to the government’s Crop Estimates Committee.

The nation produced 12.8 million tons in 2010, the biggest crop since 1982.

“We are expecting a very high maize crop this season,” Thys Grobbelaar an analyst at Klerksdorp-based Senwes Ltd., said by phone today.

“It will be much more than what the local demand is.”

Wheat for delivery in May rose 0.7 percent to 4,040 rand a ton in Johannesburg. - Bloomberg News

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