SA’s 2020 maize harvest expected to be 35% higher than previous season – CEC

South Africa will likely harvest 35% more maize in 2020 boosted by higher yields in the Free State and Mpumalanga, the government’s Crop Estimates Committee (CEC) said on Wednesday.

Giving its third production forecast for the 2020 crop, the CEC estimated production at 15.221 million tonnes, compared with 11.275 million tonnes harvested in the previous year when dry conditions affected plantings.

The estimate is also 3% higher than the CEC’s March estimate of 14.809 million tonnes.

The crop is forecast to consist of 8.779 million tonnes of white maize, used for human consumption, and 6.442 million tonnes of yellow maize used mainly in animal feed.

The CEC’s estimate is slightly higher than the result of a Reuters survey, based on an average of estimates from five traders and analysts, that the pegged the harvest at 15.049 million tonnes.