Johannesburg - South Africa will likely lower its maize output forecast for this year as farmers have harvested most of the crop for the season, a Reuters survey of traders showed on Monday.
An average estimate of seven trading houses polled by Reuters showed that the government's Crop Estimates Committee (CEC) may lower the forecast to 9.57 million tons from a previous estimate of 9.84 million tons.
A scorching drought in maize producing regions of Africa's biggest producer of the crop is expected to cut this year's output of South Africa's staple crop by about a third from 2014's harvest of 14.25 million tons.
“Most farmers say at least 60-70 percent of their maize has been harvested so it makes sense to drop the estimate,” a trader said.
The traders' forecasts ranged between 8.6 million tons and 9.84 million tons of maize produced for the year.
Reuters