Last years’ scorcher of a drought leaves maize harvest down 32%

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa will likely harvest 9.66 million tonnes of maize in 2015, 32 percent less than the bumper 14.25 million tonnes reaped last year because of a scorching drought, a government agency said on Thursday.

The poorer harvest, which the agency said would be the smallest crop since 2007, could have implications for food prices and inflation as maize is South Africa's staple crop.

The maize crop will consist of an estimated 4.69 million tonnes of white maize and 4.97 million tonnes of yellow, the government's Crop Estimates Committee (CEC) said in its maiden forecast for the 2015 crop.

The harvest forecast is 7.6 percent lower than market expectations of 10.45 million tonnes, according to a Reuters poll of traders.

Grain SA, an industry group, said on Feb. 12 that an aerial survey over maize-growing areas in the Free State and North West provinces had shown large sections where the damage inflicted by the drought was "already irreversible."

After good rains during the start of the growing season in October and November, drought conditions began setting in during the crucial month of January and have persisted into February.

The most traded July white maize contract added 3.4 percent on Thursday to 2,595 rand ($227) a tonne ahead of the CEC announcement.

($1 = 11.4199 rand)