August 13, 2008

South Africa exported 52,707 tonnes of white corn in the week to August 8, up from 13,154 tonnes in the previous week, the South African Grain Information Service (SAGIS) said on Tuesday.

A 33,415-tonne sale to Iran, made up most of the shipment while the rest of the corn was sold to regional neighbours Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Lesotho.

Yellow corn exports also jumped to 36,378 tonnes from 2,019 tonnes previous week, thanks to a 34,089 tonne deal with Malaysia, SAGIS said on its website. Yellow corn is predominantly used for animal feed.

South Africa, the biggest corn producer in Africa, is expecting a bumper corn crop of about 11.6 million tonnes this season as good weather and increased planting area boosted production.