Spotlight on SA wheat market: 20/08/2018

• Our general observations of the current crop conditions in the Western Cape province suggest that the 2018/19 season recovery could somewhat be subdued. While the Swartland and Overberg regions received good rainfall in the past couple of weeks and the crop is in good condition, the opposite is true for the southern Cape region.
• On Friday, most parts of the Western Cape province received light showers of between 5 and 10 millimetres, which is generally a positive development. Nonetheless, this will have minimal impact on the southern Cape region. There are already reports of crop damage in some areas, but the scale is unclear at this point.
• Other winter wheat producing provinces such as the Free State, Northern Cape and Limpopo are have recently completed the planting process and will possibly have a good harvest this season due to favourable weather outlook and higher dam levels for the irrigation areas.
• Overall, we will get a clearer picture of the potential recovery of South Africa’s wheat production when the Crop Estimate Committee releases its forecasts on 28 August 2018. The global observers such as the International Grains Council forecasts South Africa’s 2018/19 wheat production at 1.7 million tonnes, up by 13 percent from the previous season’s harvest due to improved weather conditions in some parts of the country.

Click HERE to read the full report by Wandile Sihlobo