Johannesburg - South African yellow-corn futures fell for a sixth day, the longest streak of declines since February, after exports of the grain remained near the lowest level in four weeks.
Shipments of yellow corn were 33,334 metric tons for the week ended September 6, the Pretoria-based South African Grain Information Service said on its website today.
That was a climb of 1.6 percent from the prior period, when exports were the lowest since the week ended August 2, according to SAGIS data.
“Our yellow-maize exports were not that big for the week,” Benjamin Swanepoel, a trader at Trademar Futures (Pty) Ltd., said by phone from Johannesburg, using another name for corn.
“That dragged prices lower.”
Yellow corn for delivery in December, the most active contract, slid 0.3 percent to 2,155 rand ($215) a metric ton by the noon close on the South African Futures Exchange in Johannesburg.
The run of drops is the longest since February 12, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
White corn for the same delivery month fell 0.2 percent to 2,331 rand a ton.
South Africa, the continent’s largest corn grower, is on course to produce more of the yellow variety than white for the first time since 1995, according to the government’s Crop Estimates Committee.
The panel on August 27 raised its forecast for yellow-corn output in the marketing year through April by 5.1 percent to 5.93 million tons.
Yellow corn is used mainly as animal feed in South Africa, while a meal made from the white variety is one of the nation’s staple foods.
Wheat for delivery in December gained 0.5 percent to 3,387.40 rand a ton. - Bloomberg News