South Africa retains its position as net corn exporter in MY 2024-25: USDA
SOUTH AFRICA — According to a report from the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) of the US Department of Agriculture, South Africa will remain a net exporter of corn in marketing year 2024-25.
This is despite the fact that the country was plagued with challenging weather that lowered the forecast for planted area to 3 million hectares with production of 16 million tonnes.
In its Jan. 22 report, the FAS said South Africa’s 2024-25 production season started off slowly with sporadic rainfall during October 2024 and a heatwave in November 2024, affecting the progress in corn plantings.
In mid-December, most parts of South Africa’s corn production areas saw improved and sustained rainfall reshaping the harvest outlook. In general, corn plantings in 2024-25 are later than the five-year average due to the delayed rains.
Early season plantings that suffered during the heatwaves recovered or were replanted, except in some areas where producers struggled to get into fields to finish sowing due to the wet conditions, according to the FAS.
“Weather forecasters predict La Niña weather conditions for the rest of the season, which generally supports sufficient rainfall and conducive production conditions in South Africa’s corn producing area,” the FAS said.
The 2023-24 corn crop suffered tremendously from drought, falling to 13.3 million tonnes, or 22% less than the previous marketing year, necessitating imports.
Originally, the commercial crop was expected to exceed 15 million tonnes. However, the FAS has revised its export forecast to 1.5 million tonnes, mainly due to the lower planted area and higher local demand for animal feed, which will reduce the amount of corn for export.
“South Africa is expected to export about 2 million tonnes of corn in 2023-24,” the FAS said. “South Africa’s corn exports focus mainly on neighboring countries where import demand is elevated after last year’s drought-stricken season.”
South Africa is not expected to import any corn to meet domestic demand in 2024-25 after importing 800,000 tonnes in 2023-24.
The country imported 465,000 tonnes of yellow corn from Argentina and Brazil and the first shipment of 23,768 tonnes of white corn from the United States arrived after genetic engineering issues were resolved.
Year-end stocks are forecast to recover from the abnormally low levels estimated for 2023-24, expanding by 75% to 1.4 million tonnes in 2024-25 on higher local production and less exports, to equal about six weeks of commercial consumption.
South Africa’s corn exports are anticipated to focus on neighbouring countries, where import demand has increased following the drought in the previous season.
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