SA's 2015 wheat crop down 18% over drought

Johannesburg - South Africa's 2015 winter wheat crop fell 18 percent from the previous year to 1.44 million tonnes because of drought, the government's Crop Estimates Committee said on Thursday in its final assessment of the harvest.

South Africa typically imports about half of the wheat it consumes but industry group Grain SA has estimated it will need to import 2 million tonnes or around 60 percent of its needs in this marketing year which ends on September 30.