Johannesburg - Concerns about the quality of white corn imported by South Africa mainly from Mexico after the worst drought in recorded history have been raised by an advisory committee to the JSE Limited, which runs the country’s agricultural derivatives market.
“One of the agenda items was discussing foreign product and foreign delivery onto JSE contracts,” Chris Sturgess, the commodities derivatives director at the exchange, said in an interview on Wednesday.
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“There’s a mix. Some millers welcome the product.”
The committee consists of traders, millers and farmers, according to Sturgess.
In the marketing year that began on May 1, South Africa has imported 516 935 tons of white corn, with 97 percent of that coming from Mexico.
The white variety of the grain is used as a staple food in the country, while yellow corn is mainly fed to animals.
BLOOMBERG