Bumper crop in South Africa may just disprove the Rev. Malthus once again

Posted August 27, 2008

As financial editors dust off the Reverend Mathus’ “Doomsday Doctrine” to scare up new subscribers for their services, an exceptional corn crop in South Africa promises to eradicate even more of corn’s shrinking year-to-date gains.

by Carli Lourens, Bloomberg.com

Baltimore — (TFN): South Africa May Produce Biggest Corn Crop in Thirteen Years

Aug. 27 (Bloomberg) — South Africa, the biggest corn producer in Africa, said increased yields will deliver the largest crop in 13 years, beating analysts’ expectations.

The state’s Crop Estimates Committee forecast a harvest of 12.021 million metric tons, beating the median forecast of 11.78 million tons in a Bloomberg survey of six traders. The projected figure would be the biggest since the 12.067 million tons reaped in the 1994-5 season and 69 percent larger than last year.

The final estimate is 3.7 percent higher than last month’s forecast of 11.6 million tons, the Pretoria-based panel said on its Web site today. Farmers may reap 7.098 million tons of white corn, used to make the staple food cornmeal, and 4.923 million tons of yellow corn, used mainly to make animal feed.

“The final estimate has been marginally increased due to higher yields this season,” the committee said, adding farmers will probably harvest 4.29 tons per hectare, compared with 2.79 tons last year. A hectare is 2.471 acres.

The committee also forecast a corn harvest of 464,069 tons from subsistence farmers, compared with 213,738 tons last year.

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