September 4, 2008

South African corn deliveries rose to 10.72 million tonnes in the week to Aug 29, up from a revised 10.58 million tonnes in the previous week, data showed on Wednesday (September 3, 2008).

South African farmers, the biggest producers of the grain in Africa, brought 141,000 tonnes of corn to market in the week.

These comprised 91,000 tonnes of white corn and 50,000 tonnes of yellow, the South African Grain Information Service (SAGIS) said.

The deliveries raised the total amount of white corn submitted to silos since the beginning of the marketing season in May to 6.566 million tonnes from a revised 6.475 million tonnes. Yellow corn deliveries rose to 4.157 million tonnes from a revised 4.107 million.

SAGIS revised the delivery figures for the week to Aug. 22, adding 1,000 tonnes of white corn and deducting 10,000 tonnes of yellow corn.

The latest submissions also brought South Africa closer to its estimated production target for the 2007/08 season.

The Crop Estimates Committee (CEC) last week forecast the total corn crop to reach 12.02 million tonnes, the country's biggest crop in more than three years and much more than its annual consumption of about 8 million tonnes.

The committee said output had been boosted by good weather conditions during the season.