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Conclusion
South Africa is likely to harvest a record crop estimated at
15,6 million tons in the 2017/2018 marketing season, of which 61%
is white maize and 39% yellow maize. This means that South Africa
now has an opportunity to regain its status of a net exporter and will
be able to compete at deep sea level.
While South Africa was out of the deep sea export market for two
consecutive seasons, it is advisable that South Africa focuses on
exporting its maize to established markets which showed consist-
ency over the years and countries that grew their import intake.
Such countries include Japan, Mexico and South Korea. The benefit
of exporting to already established markets comes with a country
being aware of certain barriers to trade, understanding the system
and seeing it as an opportunity to grow market share. Therefore,
South Africa should consider these countries as it looks into export
opportunities for the bumper crop. The future potential market op-
portunities will then unfold as the season progresses.
For more information, contact Michelle Mokone at
michelle@grain-
sa.co.za
.
Graph 1: Top five importers of South African maize in 2014 and South African maize exports over ten years.
Source: ITC, 2014
Graph 2: South African white maize exports during the 2015/2016
marketing season.
Source: SAGIS
Graph 3: South African yellow maize exports during the 2015/2016
marketing season.
Source: SAGIS