May 25, 2012

South Africa lowers 2012 corn crop forecast

For a third consecutive month, South Africa cut its 2012 corn output forecast on Thursday (May 24) as the effects of late-season dry weather continue to weigh on the crop.

The government's Crop Estimates Committee (CEC) said corn output for the May 2011-April 2012 season is now estimated to be 11.056 million tonnes from 11.12 million tonnes in its previous forecast.

The corn crop will consist of an estimated 6.36 million tonnes of white corn and 4.696 million tonnes of yellow, the government's Crop Estimates Committee (CEC) said.

"The (cut) is because of the impact of the dry weather as well as lower yields in the Northwest province," Rona Beukes, a CEC spokeswoman, said.

The estimate was slightly lower than market expectations of 11.1 million tonnes, according to a Reuters poll.

The committee left unchanged its estimate for the area cultivated under corn at 2.7 million hectares.  South Africa harvested 10.36 million tonnes of corn in the previous season. The country has also imported corn from Zambia, Romania and Ukraine to make up for deficits after vast export commitments.

The most active July white corn contract ended down 0.69% at ZAR2,025 (US$240) a tonne on Thursday, while yellow corn for delivery in the same month fell 0.20 % to ZAR2,000 (US$239) a tonne.