South African white maize prices scaled fresh 27-month peaks on Tuesday, driven by renewed rand weakness, while data showed a slight dip in exports of the grain last week.
The July white maize contract edged up 0.7 percent to 1,275 rand a tonne, a new 2006 closing high. It earlier hit 1,277 rand, its highest since late February 2004, according to Reuters data.
The equivalent yellow maize contract inched up 3 rand to 1,188 rand a tonne, also a 2006 closing high.
"It's all on the weaker rand," said a trader at a major local bank.
The rand was flirting with 6-1/2-month lows on Tuesday versus the dollar as the US currency held firm against the euro on renewed expectations for another US interest rate rise later in June.
South African maize prices have also been well supported this year by expectations of a far smaller harvest compared with last season's big 11.45 million tonne crop.
The official estimate is just over 6 million tonnes after farmers planted much less in response to low prices last year, while excessive rains during much of the growing season have prompted concerns about yields.
Data released after the market closed showed exports fell to 13,207 tonnes in the week to June 2 from 16,919 the previous week, the South African Grain Information Service said. Yellow maize exports were 1,856 tonnes versus 814 tonnes.
South Africa also imported 11,266 tonnes of yellow maize from Argentina last week, SAGIS added. It imported 26,518 tonnes of the grain from the same country the previous week.
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