Johannesburg, Feb 7 (I-Net Bridge) - South African maize futures came under selling pressure on Tuesday, defying market fundamentals.
The March 2012 white maize contract slid R80 to R2,321 per ton, the May 2012 white maize dipped R30 to R2,110 per ton, the July 2012 white maize lost R38 to R1,942 per ton, according to preliminary I-Net Bridge data.
The March 2012 yellow maize contract came off R78 to R2,364 per ton, May 2012 yellow maize contract shed R45 to R2,060 per ton and the July 2012 yellow maize contract lost R35 to R1,912 per ton.
The March wheat contract was down R26 to R2,770 per ton, while May wheat edged down R18 to R2,830 per ton, and the July 2012 wheat contract shed R15 to R2,862 per ton.
"The market looks very strange at the moment. Price actions are telling us a different story to market fundamentals, which are grain stock shortfall," a local dealer said.
Dow Jones Newswires reported that US grain and soybean futures ended mostly higher on Monday, with wheat futures rising amid ongoing threats to European crops from freezing temperatures.
"Very harsh cold weather in eastern Europe and the Black Sea region continue to threaten wheat crops while also making it difficult to move grain, stimulated higher prices," said Sterling Smith, analyst with brokerage Country Hedging.
Crop concerns provided enough support for wheat to shun the negative influences of a higher US dollar and weakness from corn futures that slumped for most of the day.
Cold temperatures in Eastern Europe stretching all the way into France fed concern about supplies there. "It's just too cold, for too long, with too little snow for nothing to have happened," according to analysts at brokerage ABN Amro.
Traders are factoring the potential for reduced crop sizes from Europe, and that could mean greater exports for the US and other wheat producers.
Corn futures ended near unchanged, struggling to find price support throughout the day.
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