South Africa May Lower Wheat Output Forecast 0.7%, Survey Shows

South Africa will probably cut its targets for wheat output and its planting area for corn in a Crop Estimates Committee forecast due Oct. 25, a survey showed.

The estimate may fall 0.7 percent from the prior forecast of 1.762 million metric tons, according to the median prediction in a survey of five traders. The range was 1.7 million tons to 1.762 million tons. South Africa may plant 2.6 million hectares (6.4 million acres) of land with corn, according to the survey, with estimates ranging from 2.5 million to 2.9 million tons.

Wheat for December delivery, the most active contract, rose 0.4 percent to 3,571 rand a ton by the Johannesburg close. White corn climbed 1.7 percent to 2,478 rand, and the yellow variety increased 1.1 percent to 2,503 rand a ton.

White corn is a staple food in South Africa and yellow corn is mainly used as animal feed. The Free State province produces 40 percent of the nation’s corn and Mpumalanga grows 21 percent.

To contact the reporter on this story: Tshepiso Mokhema in Johannesburg at tmokhema@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Antony Sguazzin at asguazzin@bloomberg.net