SPARKED by crop damage fears, white maize futures reversed their upward sprint on Wednesday and turned back from the R1000-a-ton mark. A dealer said white maize futures reversed between R10 and R16 on five of the six contracts because of failed export orders for the staple grain. Traders are revising their estimates for the total crop down from February’s official estimate of 7,26-million tons to somewhere between 6,0 and 6,5 million tons. Another trader said farmers are moving in and locking in at the high prices because they realise that the R1000 mark will be a difficult level to breach.