March 28, 2007

South Africa imports corn due to drought
 

Traditional corn exporter South Africa will have to import the grain due to the worst drought the country has experienced in 15 years.

John Purchase, the general manager of Grain SA (South Africa), said corn shortage would push up prices of all commodities that contain corn as well as the cost of poultry and cattle feed.

South Africa normally exports corn to Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland and sometimes supplied to Zimbabwe, Kenya and other countries.

Neels Ferreira, Chairman of Grain SA, said farmers have planted summer crop late in the season due to projected good rains early this year. However, Ferrera said a heavy downpour cannot remedy the casualties as crops have been already parched due to adverse weather conditions.

Other crops such as sorghum, sunflower and soya beans are also likely to show a significant drop in yields.