June 30, 2015
South Africa may lower corn output forecast: Reuters
South Africa will likely lower its corn output forecast for this year as farmers have harvested most of the crop for the season, a Reuters survey of traders showed.
An average estimate of seven trading houses polled by Reuters showed that the government's Crop Estimates Committee (CEC) may lower the forecast to 9.57 million tonnes from a previous estimate of 9.84 million tonnes.
The reduced forecast follows severe drought in corn producing regions the country, which is expected to cut the corn crop by about a third from 2014's harvest of 14.25 million tonnes.
According to a trader, most farmers have harvested 60-70% of their corn crop.
The traders' forecasts ranged between 8.6 and 9.84 million tonnes of corn produced for the year.