Tshepiso Mokhema
MAIZE futures in South Africa surged by the R80 daily limit for a second day as hot, dry weather threatens the country’s crops.
Persistent dryness may have “tragic” consequences for the farming industry and mean high food prices in the next year at least, Grain South Africa, a farmers’ group, said last Friday.
The lack of rain damaged maize in the Free State and North West, while crops in other parts of the country urgently need rain, it said.
White maize for delivery in July rose 3.3 percent to R2 530 a metric ton, the highest since March 12, by the noon close on the South African Futures Exchange in Johannesburg. The grain is used mainly to produce pap.
The yellow variety for delivery in the same month advanced 3.5 percent to R2 355 a ton. This kind is used mostly to feed animals.
Bloemfontein was forecast to see a maximum temperature of 33ºC yesterday, while Lichtenburg in North West was projected to reach a maximum of 36ºC, according to data on the South African Weather Service’s website.
Grain SA, the biggest group representing farmers, said the price of maize might jump by almost 30 percent if the dry conditions continue.
The government had declared disaster areas in nine of 11 districts in the KwaZulu-Natal province, where more than 80 percent of the nation’s sugar was produced, said David Wayne, the executive director at the South African Cane Growers’ Association.
South Africa had not experienced a general drought since the early 1990s, Grain SA said. – Bloomberg