Johannesburg - The SA Grain and Information Services (Sagis) warned that the country’s maize meal production had decreased 8 percent to 243 745 tons in the past 12 months to July.
The agency said the decline could lead to an increase in the price of staples such as bread, potatoes and rice as the drought had cut production from the 265 839 tons recorded during the corresponding period last year.
Sagis said its monthly data indicated that South Africa’s total production was at 5.4 million tons last month, with 53 percent being yellow maize and the rest white maize.
It said this was 7 percent higher than the previous month, owing to an increase in producer deliveries, but down by 20 percent when compared with the same period last year.
Last week, the country imported 59 507 tons of yellow maize with 92 percent coming from Argentina and the rest from Brazil.
Sagis said South Africa produced an average of 171 million loaves of bread per month with 50 percent being white bread and 49 percent brown bread.
It said the remaining 1 percent accounted for whole-wheat bread.
High demand
Agricultural Business Chamber (Agbiz) chief economist, Wandile Sihlobo, said maize-meal production had dropped despite proof that there was still high demand for both white and yellow maize in the country.
“In August 2016, South Africa’s total maize demand reached 865 168 tons, with 59 percent share being yellow maize and 41 percent being white maize. This was 3 percent higher than the volume consumed in the previous month, but 3 percent lower than August 2015,” said Sihlobo.
He warned, however, that the decline should not be interpreted to mean that country had enough maize for the year as consumers could have switched to other products.
“There is still a need for imports as the effects of the drought are still felt in the economy. The decline in maize production can mean that consumers have switched to other stable foods like rice, pasta, potatoes and bread,” he said.
Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister, Senzeni Zokwana, said in April that South Africa was expected to import more than 4 million tons of both yellow and white maize from May this year until next April.
Zokwana said the department’s estimates showed that the country would import 2.4 million tons of yellow maize and 1.9 million tons of white maize by the end of next April to cover the shortfall.
The crop estimates committee put the production figure to 7 million tons this year - 30 percent less than the 9.96 million tons produced last year.
Sihlobo said during the period, brown bread production increased marginally by 5 percent, from 87 million loaves in August last year to 91 million loaves in July this year.
He said white bread production increased by 3 percent, from 85 million to 93 million loaves during the time.
“Total bread production increased by 4 percent, from 180 million loaves in August 2015 to 187 million loaves in July 2016,” said Sihlobo.
BUSINESS REPORT