JOHANNESBURG Jan 3 (Reuters) – Two cargo ships with
yellow maize from Romania are en route to South Africa’s Western
Cape province for unloading, the head of producer group Grain SA
said on Tuesday.
“Our understanding is that there are two cargo shipments on
their way to the Western Cape. It’s yellow maize from Romania
for the feed (livestock) industry in that province,” Jannie de
Villiers, Grain SA’s chief executive, told Reuters.
He gave no details on the size of the cargoes.
South Africa has been harvesting bumper maize crops but
because of export commitments, Grain SA estimates it may have to
import a combined 700,000 tonnes of white and yellow maize to
make up for expected shortfalls in the current marketing year
which ends on April 30.
The March white maize contract ended over 3 percent
higher on Tuesday at 2,644.00 rand a tonne and the prospects
that South Africa may have to import could put further pressure
on prices and domestic inflation.
(Reporting by Ed Stoddard; editing by Keiron Henderson)
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