May 3, 2012

South Africa's 2011 wheat yield seen 33% higher

The farmers in South Africa may have reaped 33% more wheat in the 2011 season than the previous year, according to a survey.

The government may say growers reaped 1.9 million tonnes of the grain, the median of seven traders surveyed by Bloomberg News shows. That compares with 1.43 million tonnes produced a year earlier and with the Crop Estimates Committee's final forecast of 1.91 million tonnes, released on February 28. The committee is set to report output on May. 8.

South Africa, which is a net importer of wheat, is sub - Saharan Africa's largest producer of the grain and the region's third-biggest importer after Nigeria and Sudan, according to USDA data on Bloomberg.

Wheat prices have declined 14% over the past year on the Johannesburg-based South African Futures Exchange. Prices for the May contract increased 1.7% to ZAR2,686 (US$346) by the midday close.