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. - Reuters