Johannesburg - South African corn futures declined as the rand halted a two-day slide, lowering the cost of importing the grain.
Yellow corn for delivery in July, the most active contract, fell 2.2 percent to 2,242 rand ($224) a metric ton on the South African Futures Exchange by the midday close in Johannesburg.
The white variety lost 1.7 percent to 2,267.20 rand a ton.
The rand gained after South African Reserve Bank Governor Gill Marcus said the central bank has little room for an interest-rate cut. Rising inflationary risks limit the bank’s scope to lower borrowing costs further to stimulate growth in Africa’s biggest economy, Marcus said today.
“Because the rand strengthened during our trading period, the prices went down a bit,” Thys Grobbelaar, an analyst at Klerksdorp, South Africa-based Senwes, said by phone today.
South Africa is the continent’s largest producer of the grain, and meal made from the white variety is a staple food while yellow corn is mainly used as animal feed.
Wheat for delivery in July fell 0.3 percent, to close at 3,610 rand a ton. - Bloomberg News