Johannesburg - South African farmers need to boost output of white maize to help lower the price of the staple to more sustainable levels after a drought, according to agribusiness Senwes.
While prices of the grain, also known as corn, may stay high even if it rains, they’re likely to fall later, said group chief executive Francois Strydom.
Prices reached a record in January.
Strydom said in Klerksdorp: "It’s not good for the farmer. In the short term, he likes it, but long term the consumer will move away from his product. It’s just too expensive.
"We cannot sustain the prices at this level...we need to normalise the prices through production."
The price of South African white maize has more than doubled since the start of 2015 as drought caused by the global El Nino weather pattern led to the least rainfall in the country since 1904. The rand also fell, raising local-currency prices for imports.
South Africa may need to import 3.8 million metric tons of yellow and white corn this year to bolster domestic supplies, according to Grain SA, the biggest growers’ lobby. The country imported 1.96 million tonnes in the marketing year ended April 29, the Pretoria-based SA Grain Information Service said on May 4. That made the nation a net importer for the first time since 2008.
READ: SA may need to import 5 million tonnes of maize - Grain body
White maize rose for a fourth day in Johannesburg, adding 0.9% to R5 083 a ton by midday in Johannesburg, the highest since March 2.