maize harvest – Agri Limpopo

SA maize harvest activity is gaining momentum

Deidre Carter — Thu, 07 Jun 2018 07:15:54 +0000

The harvest activity is gaining momentum across the country, thanks to favourable weather conditions. The progress is reflected in the volumes of maize delivered to commercial silos which amounted to 181 310 tonnes in the week of 01 June 2016.
About 71 percent of this was yellow maize, with 39 percent being white maize. The fact that a large part of maize delivered to commercial silos is yellow maize signals that the harvest activity is gaining ground mainly in the early planted areas in the eastern parts of the country (areas that predominantly plant yellow maize). The total maize deliveries for the five weeks of the 2018/19 marketing year are estimated at 854 155 tonnes.
More maize will be delivered in the coming weeks as the expected cool and drier weather conditions within the next two weeks could provide conducive conditions for the harvest activity, particularly in the early planted areas in the eastern and central parts of South Africa.
Moreover, the expected drier weather conditions are also conducive for the late planted areas where the maize crop is currently at the tail end stages of the maturation process.
As set out in our previous notes, the yields in areas that have already harvested ranges between average and above average (yields), which supports that National Crop Estimates Committee’s view of 12.9 million tonnes of maize production this season. This expected large harvest, combined with the opening stock puts the 2018/19 marketing year maize supplies at 16.4 million tonnes, well above the local maize demand of 10.7 million tonnes.

Click HERE to read the full report by Wandile Sihlobo

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Maize harvest process is in full swing across the country

Deidre Carter — Thu, 12 Jul 2018 06:53:26 +0000

The maize harvest process is in full swing across the country, supported by favourable weather conditions. The progress is reflected in the volumes of maize delivered to commercial silos which amounted to 929 761 tonnes in the week of 06 July 2018, down by 11 percent from the previous week.
About 53 percent of this was white maize, with 47 percent being yellow maize. In contrast to the past couple of weeks when harvest progress was mainly in the central and eastern parts of the country, which predominantly produce yellow maize, this is now widespread as reflected by higher white maize deliveries.
The total maize deliveries for the first 10-weeks of the 2018/19 marketing year are estimated at 5.1 million tonnes, which equates to 39 of the estimated harvest of 13.2 million tonnes. Yellow maize accounts for 59 percent of overall maize deliveries, with white maize accounting for 41 percent.
Yesterday we cautioned about a possibility of harvest delays. However, the weather forecast has cleared over most parts of the maize-belt, which means that the harvest process could continue with minimal interruptions over the next two weeks. The provinces that could possibly experience some delays within the next eight days could be the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu Natal, as well as the southern parts of the Free State provinces.
Furthermore, the week of 27 July 2018 shows clear skies over most parts of the country which means the possible glitches in the aforementioned provinces could be temporary. Therefore, more maize will be delivered in the coming weeks. The yields in areas that have harvested largely varied between average and above-average, which supports the national Crop Estimate Committee’s view.

Click HERE to view the full report by Wandile Sihlobo

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Domestic maize harvest process is in full swing

Deidre Carter — Thu, 19 Jul 2018 11:02:38 +0000

The harvest process is in full swing across the country, underpinned by favourable weather conditions. The progress is reflected in the volumes of maize delivered to commercial silos which amounted to 780 033 tonnes in the week of 13 July 2018, down by 14 percent from the previous week.
About 56 percent of this was white maize, with 44 percent being yellow maize. In contrast to the previous months when harvest progress was mainly in the central and eastern parts of the country, which predominantly produce yellow maize, this is now widespread as reflected by higher white maize deliveries.
The total maize deliveries for the first 11-weeks of the 2018/19 marketing year are estimated at 5.9 million tonnes, which equates to 45 of the estimated harvest of 13.2 million tonnes. Yellow maize accounts for 56 percent of overall maize deliveries, with white maize accounting for 44 percent. The yields in areas that have harvested largely varied between average and above average, which is somewhat in line with market expectations.
More maize will be delivered in the coming weeks as the expected cool and drier weather conditions in most parts of the country in the next two weeks could provide conditions conducive to the harvest process. With that said, the weather forecast for the week of 03 August 2018 presents a possibility of showers in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu Natal provinces, which could slow the harvest process in areas that have not yet completed.
Above all, maize harvesting in the eastern parts of South Africa is mostly done, while in the western regions, the crop is still wet due to the late start of the season. Therefore, the forecast cool and drier weather conditions are exactly what is needed in the maize belt.

Click HERE to read the full report by Wandile Sihlobo

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Producer deliveries data reflects good progress in maize harvest process

Deidre Carter — Thu, 02 Aug 2018 12:58:07 +0000

The favourable weather conditions in the past couple of weeks provided conducive conditions for the harvest process. The progress is reflected in the volumes of maize delivered to commercial silos which amounted to 813 814 tonnes in the week of 27 July 2018, up by 6 percent from the previous week.
About 66 percent of this was white maize, with 34 percent being yellow maize. This indicates that the central and the western parts of South Africa which predominantly produce white maize are making good progress, unlike the previous weeks when the deliveries were largely yellow maize, which is mostly planted in the eastern parts of South Africa.
This placed the country’s 2018/19 maize marketing year producer deliveries at 7.5 million tonnes, which equates to 57 percent of the estimated harvest of 13.2 million tonnes. Yellow maize accounts for 52 percent of overall maize deliveries, with white maize accounting for 48 percent. The yields in areas that have harvested largely varied between average and above average, which is somewhat in line with market expectations. More maize will be delivered in the coming weeks as the expected cool and drier weather conditions in most parts of the country in the next two weeks could provide favourable conditions to the harvest process.
Today the focus will be on weekly grain trade data which is due for release at midday. In the week of 20 July 2018, South Africa had already exported 838 925 tonnes of maize, which equates to 34 percent of the seasonal export forecast. The leading destinations or markets were Vietnam, Taiwan, South Korea, Italy and Botswana.

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A large share of 2017/18 maize crop has already been delivered to commercial silos

Deidre Carter — Thu, 06 Sep 2018 07:42:01 +0000

This year’s maize harvest process continued with minimal interruption in the past couple of weeks, albeit being behind schedule due to the late start of the season on the back of unfavourable weather conditions late last year into early January 2018. A large share of the crop has already been delivered to commercial silos. In the week of 31 August, maize producer deliveries amounted to 252 665 tonnes, down by 35 percent from the previous week. About 73 percent of this was white maize, with 27 percent being yellow maize.
This placed South Africa’s 2018/19 maize marketing year producer deliveries at 10.5 million tonnes, which equates to 80 percent of the estimated harvest of 13.2 million tonnes. The yields in areas that have harvested largely varied between average and above average, which is somewhat in line with market expectations. While the harvest process has largely been completed, additional maize will still be delivered in the coming months.
Today the focus will be on the weekly grain trade data which is due for release at midday. South Africa exported 62 058 tonnes of maize in the week of 24 August 2018, up by 8 percent from levels seen in the previous week. About 88 percent was yellow maize, with 12 percent being white maize. The leading buyer was Vietnam with a share of 83 percent and the rest went to regional markets. This placed South Africa’s 2018/19 maize exports at 1.2 million tonnes, which is about 52 percent of the seasonal export forecast of 2.3 million tonnes (revised down from the previous estimate of 2.5 million tonnes).
Elsewhere, the most recent reports from World Weather Inc. suggest that the heavy rains in parts of the US Midwest could slow down advancing of maize and initial fieldwork.

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The 2018/19 maize production prospects of South Africa’s neighbouring countries

Arithmus — Mon, 21 Jan 2019 09:18:01 +0000

Zimbabwe is likely to experience a shortage of maize supplies in the 2019/20 marketing year due to an expected poor harvest.

Zambia and Malawi’s maize harvest could fall double-digit from the 2017/18 production season, but the countries could still be self-sufficient in the 2019/20 marketing year (corresponds with 2018/19 production season), supported by fairly large stocks from the previous year.

Back in home soil, the western maize production areas of South Africa are now critically dry once again because of the hot and dry weather and relatively limited soil moisture leading into the week of 17 January 2019. The impact of this was reflected in maize prices which rallied to levels over R3 000 per tonne, particularly white maize which is planted in the western regions.

An important date to keep an eye on is 29 January 2019 when the national Crop Estimate Committee releases the preliminary planting data for South Africa’s summer grains and oilseeds.

The weather will continue to play a key role in the South African agricultural markets in the next three months. Thereafter, the focus will shift to winter crop producing areas. The near-term precipitation prospects are constructive (see page 6).

At the end of the week of 17 January 2019, SAFEX wheat prices were up by 17% from levels seen in the corresponding period last year, trading around R4 379 per tonne. This was driven by high international wheat prices and the relatively weaker domestic currency.

Overall, the tough production conditions in the grains and oilseeds subsectors will most likely add upward pressure on consumer prices, but we do not expect a notable uptick in headline food price inflation, as lower meat prices will somewhat overshadow the potential upswings.

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Sourced: Agbiz, Agribusiness Research

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