South Africa corn stocks fall 12.5% as utilisation rises 5%: SAGIS

Corn stocks in South Africa have fallen by nearly 1 million mt between December and January 2018 as total corn utilisation grew 5% month-on-month to 882,219 mt, data from the South African Grain Information Service shows.

Utilisation – which encompasses human consumption, animal feed and any other corn uses – was at its highest January level since SAGIS began publishing data in 2002.

With the country in the grip of drought and food prices surging, domestic demand seems to have largely been met from the country’s reserves, with stocks ending January at 6.3 million mt, down 921,172 mt, according to the data.

January also saw food and non-alcoholic beverage inflation rise to 4.5%, higher than the national rate which fell to 4.4% in January, according to data from the country’s statistical office, released earlier in the month.

End user consumption in January 2018 has climbed by just under 100,000 mt from 789,726 mt in the same period of 2017, according to the data, while deliveries direct from farmers has held largely unchanged, rising just over 2% to 90,599 mt.

Exports came in at 128,785 mt, with just over half of that volume – 71,393 mt – exported by sea.

Last January, South Africa was still feeling the effect of significant drought which slashed production in the country in the 2015/16 harvest, and forced it to import corn - a staple food in the country.

While the harvest bounced back in 2016/17, estimated at 17.48 million mt according to the USDA, it is currently on course to produce around 12.5 million mt.