South Africa needs eight million tonnes of maize to see it through each year and as harvesting draws to a close, the market has become increasingly worried that the country will not have enough maize this year to meet demand.

Already, this year's crop is seen far below the annual requirement.

The Crop Estimates Committee last month set this year's output at 6,9 million tonnes.

Stocks at the end of July this year included 1,822 million tonnes of yellow maize against demand of 3,7 million tonnes, the South African Grain Information Service (SAGIS) said in its monthly bulletin yesterday.

White maize stocks totalled 3,85 million tonnes, whereas South Africa needs 4,4 million each year, SAGIS said shortly after the market closed.

Supply fears have driven up prices and also raised the prospect that South Africa may need to import white maize to supplement its needs.

"No more deliveries are coming, and there are concerns that we'll not meet that target (set by the committee)," said a Johannesburg-based trader.

"We'll need to be importing a little bit more, about 1,5 to 2 million tonnes and this will definitely put a little bit more pressure on the market," he added.

South Africa seldom imports white maize but regularly imports the yellow variety.

But dealers said local supply issues have for the time being taken a backseat to trends on the international agricultural market.

One trader said global supply concerns around wheat had spilled over to other commodities such as maize, as players fretted over drought in Australia and the substitution of corn in place of wheat in the United States.

Nampa-Reuters

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