South Africa's volatile rand currency and crop estimates data will guide maize prices next week, traders said on Friday.
Traders said they again expected an upward revision of 2004/05 crop estimates but were divided on the size of the adjustment a move that would inflate already bulging stocks and drive down prices.
"We expect the crop estimates will be between 8.15 and 8.3 million tonnes, so that's quite a big number," CTH economist Jacob Grobbelaar told Reuters.
Last month, the National Crop Estimates Committee forecast a crop of 8.06 million tonnes, up 1.9 percent from projections.