South Africa's 2019 maize harvest seen 15 percent lower than prior season

JOHANNESBURG: South Africa is expected to harvest 15 percent less maize in 2019 compared to the previous season after dry conditions delayed plantings, the government's Crop Estimates Committee (CEC) said on Thursday.

The CEC, which gave its third estimate for the 2018/2019 season, estimated production at 10.655 million tonnes compared with 12.510 million tonnes harvested in the previous year.

The harvest is expected to consist of 5.287 million tonnes of the food staple white maize and 5.369 million tonnes of yellow maize used mainly in animal feed, the CEC said.

The estimate is 0.9 percent higher than the March forecast of 10.561 million tonnes due to slightly higher expected yields in Mpumalanga and mostly in line with a Reuters poll of five traders and market analysts which pegged the harvest at 10.6 million tonnes.