South Africa: Grain and Feed Update
Due to unfavorable weather conditions, Post estimates a 14 percent drop in commercial corn area planted for the 2018/19 MY in South Africa. As a result, commercial corn production is expected to drop by 23 percent to around 10 million tons. While over 3 million tons of carry-over stocks remain from strong crops the past two seasons, South Africa will have to import an estimated 500,000 tons of corn in the 2018/19 MY to satisfy the local demand and continue exporting to neighboring countries. As the United States and South Africa are synchronized in terms of approved genetically engineered (GE) corn, South Africa could be a market for United States corn exports.