Johannesburg - South African white-corn futures rose the most in a week with stockpiles falling.
White corn for delivery in March gained 1.2 percent to 3,184 rand a metric ton, the most since January 30 on the South African Futures Exchange.
The yellow variety for delivery in July declined 0.1 percent to 2,216.80 rand a ton.
South Africa’s stockpiles of white corn fell 25 percent in December from a year earlier, the Pretoria-based South African Grain Information Service said January 24.
Inventories were 1.84 million tons, down from 2.64 million tons a year earlier.
“There is still much concern regarding the availability of stocks,” Thys Grobbelaar, an analyst at Klerksdorp, South Africa-based Senwes Ltd., said today by phone.
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 0.4 percent to 3,863 rand a ton.
Soybeans for delivery in May fell 0.1 percent to 6,030 rand a ton. - Bloomberg News