Maize futures and spot prices are expected to remain firm on good export demand as well as good sustained buying from poultry and starch sector supported by lower inflows in Bihar.
NCDEX maize futures (August 2008 contracts) on Monday crossed the Rs 1,000-mark and moved up to an all time high of Rs 1,011 a quintal on local buying support. Maize active July 2008 contract prices have jumped up by 18% to trade around Rs 971 per quintal in the last one month on strong domestic demand, market sources said.
Lack of carryover stock from previous season due to lower production of 14.5 million tonne and rising demand from ethanol production are among few other fundamentals that would push up the maize futures, according to Karvy Commodities report.
Spot price in Nizamabad was quoted around Rs 891.15 per quintal
on Monday, up by 22% from Rs 727.50 a quintal quoted on May 14, 2008.
Inflows in Bihar reduced from 60,000 bags daily to 40,000 bags in last
week as farmers are holding
back stocks.
?Huge piling up of stocks from poultry and starch units has currently gained momentum and is expected to continue for the coming week. Exceptional demand from overseas markets and heavy buying activity by domestic poultry and starch units is likely to support prices for further bullish movement,? an analyst with Angel Commodities said.
Maize export is estimated at 15 lakh tonne during September 2007-May 2008 period, up from 4.5 lakh tonne previous year. Continuous shipments from Kakinada port have been reported in the Asian countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia.
According to USDA report, domestic corn production is estimated at 17.5 million tonne in the year 2008-09. In the US, the estimated corn production figure significantly declined from the previous month projections of 307.89 million tonne to 229.08 million tonne.
Falling production will push the 2009 crop season?s year-end stock level to the lowest in 13 years. Rainy weather in Corn Belt in US is expected to lower next year?s corn national average yield to 148.9 bushels per acre, six bushels below the 1990-2007 trends, sources said.