South Africa's most traded maize and wheat futures ended higher on Monday, taking their cue from a weaker rand against the United States dollar. The main July white maize contract rose 2.71 percent to 1,627 rand a tonne, while yellow maize for delivery in that month gained 1.79 percent to 1,590 rand a tonne.
"The rand weakened during the session and that gave the market a bit of a lift, even though it had firmed compared to where we closed on Friday by the time that the market closed," a Johannesburg trader said. The rand was weaker against the dollar for most of the grain trading session, but was trading at 10.53 against the greenback at the end of grain trading at 1000 GMT, stronger than its 10.57 level when the market closed on Friday.
The weaker currency also buoyed local wheat futures, lifting the benchmark May wheat futures contract 0.84 percent to 2,751 rand a tonne. The rand has been a major driver of South African maize prices in recent months, with the currency providing an upward lift to prices hit by lower global markets, rainfall and good crop production forecasts.
South Africa, the biggest maize producer and No 3 wheat grower on the continent, reaped a bumper maize crop of 12.70 million tonnes during the 2007/08 season. After conducting its first survey of possible maize output for the 2008/09 season last month, the government's Crop Estimates Committee said it expected this season's maize crop to come in at 11.22 million tonnes. The figure would still be higher than annual consumption of about 8 million tonnes a year and may contribute to lower prices for the grain, traders said.
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