South Africa had witnessed its largest cultivation of soybean on record, at a 23% jump to 620,300 hectares for the season.

 

The upward trend was attributed to the rising demand for soy products. 

 

Corn, on the other hand, fell by 1.2%.

 

According to Bloomberg, South Africa had used 823,413 tonnes of soybeans during the 10 months through December 2014.

 

The figure surpassed the previous season by 8%, based on data from the country's Grain Information Service.

 

South Africa's soybean-processing capacity is also expanding dynamically in the last few years, said Brink van Wyk, a Pretoria-based trader with BVG (Pty) Ltd., during an interview with Bloomberg.

 

"Per hectare, soybeans would give some farmers a bigger profit than corn," he added.

 

Wessel Lemmer also voiced optimism about the current state of South Africa's crushing capacity. The senior economist at Grain South Africa commented that the sector had reached a zenith where it can be "totally independent of soybean oil-cake imports" if local plants are operating at their fullest capacity.

 

In addition, Industrial Development Corp, South Africa's national financier, will be aiding the local processing sector financially in improving crushing capacities and supporting the establishment of the RussellStone Protein facility.

 

Based in Bronkhorstspruit, northeast of Johannesburg, the plant will be able to process 240,000 tonnes annually, according to IDC in a 2012 report.

 

In the season ended February 2014, South Africa had produced 944,340 tonnes of soybeans, its highest for the record. Output is expected to swell to one million tonnes this season, said Lemmer.