June 27, 2008

Favourable weather in South Africa lifts corn forecast

Favourable weather conditions in South Africa has lifted the government's corn production forecast for the 2007/08 season by 2.4 percent to 11.6 million tonnes, slightly above an I-Net Bridge consensus expectation of 11.5 million tonnes.

The area for crop was unchanged at 2.80 million hectares, according to a survey conducted by the Department of Agriculture's Crop Estimates Committee.

The crop estimate comprises 4.7 million tonnes of yellow corn - an increase of 2.3 percent on last month's forecast - and 6.9 million tonnes of white corn, which was revised upwards by 2.5 percent  on last month.