Wet weather conditions lower estimate for South Africa’s 2020 maize output

South Africa will likely harvest 15.537 million tonnes of maize in 2020, slightly lower than last months estimate after wet weather conditions delayed deliveries, the government’s Crop Estimates Committee (CEC) said on Thursday.

Giving its seventh production forecast for the 2020 crop, the CEC estimated that harvest would be 38% higher compared with 11.275 million tonnes harvested in the previous year when yields were hurt by dry weather conditions.

In July, the CEC pegged this year’s crop at 15.545 million tonnes.

The crop is forecast to consist of 6.534 million tonnes of yellow maize, used mainly in animal feed, and 9.003 million tonnes of white maize, used for human consumption.

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 had pegged the harvest at 15.386 million tonnes.