Wheat falls for third day

Published Aug 11, 2014

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Johannesburg - Wheat in South Africa dropped for a third session as concerns about supplies from the Black Sea region ease, an analyst said.

Maize also fell.

Wheat for delivery in December declined 0.3 percent to 3,649 rand a metric ton by the midday close on the South African Futures Exchange in Johannesburg.

This is the longest losing streak for this contract since July 14.

“The Ukraine and Russia situation has played a big role today as there has not been any new tensions reported, so the market is calm,” Thys Grobbelaar, an analyst at Klerksdorp-based Senwes, said by phone today.

Russia and Ukraine will account for almost a fifth of global wheat exports this year, the US government estimates.

Prices for the most-active contract on the Chicago Board of Trade, the global benchmark, are 16 percent lower in the past year on expectations global supply will increase.

While South Africa is the sub-Saharan region’s biggest wheat producer after Ethiopia, it’s a net importer of the grain, according to US Department of Agriculture data.

The nation is the area’s biggest buyer of the cereal after Nigeria and Sudan.

White maize for December delivery fell 0.3 percent to 1,833 rand a ton, while the yellow variety for the same month dropped 0.3 percent to 1,906 rand a ton. - Bloomberg News

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