South African maize prices closed the Thursday session sharply lower due to Chicago Board of Trade (CBoT) prices sinking to a five-month low on Wednesday after technical selling. Local wheat followed maize lower.
The white maize contract for March 2013 delivery shed R73.40 to R2‚219.60 per ton and the white maize contract for July 2013 lost R78 to R2‚033 per ton.
The yellow maize contract for March 2013 delivery shed R72 to R2‚298 per ton and yellow maize for July 2013 delivery shed R78 to R2‚074 per ton.
The wheat contract for March 2013 lost R26.80 to close at R3‚567.20 per ton.
US corn futures sank to a five-month low on Wednesday due to technical selling and concerns about weak demand. Chicago Board of Trade corn futures for March delivery settled down 17 cents‚ or 2.4%‚ at $7.03 a bushel‚ a five-month low for the front-month contract. Selling by speculative funds drove the drop in corn‚ with more funds racing to sell corn as futures continued to decline‚ Dow Jones Newswires reported.
Wheat futures were higher in the morning on news of an export sale to Egypt but were then pulled lower by corn and soybeans.
CBOT March wheat fell 5 1/2 cents‚ or 0.7%‚ to $8.05 3/4 a bushel. KCBT March wheat fell 2 1/2 cents‚ or 0.3%‚ to $8.58 a bushel. MGEX March wheat fell 6 cents‚ or 0.7%‚ to $8.95 1/2 a bushel. - I-Net Bridge