The spot price for white maize rises to R4900 per ton on Monday, with the Jul’25 price lower at R4077. The yellow maize spot price rises to R4510, with the Jul’25 price lower at R3988 per ton. The soybean spot price rises to R7585, with the May’25 price lower at R7590 per ton.

The sunflower spot price rises to R8630 per ton, with the May’25 price lower at R8750 per ton. The wheat spot price drops to R6145, with the Dec’25 price now at R6218 per ton.

The sorghum import parity price landed in Durban stands at R4908, with shelled Argentine groundnuts at R20,765 and the cotton price now at R10,310.

This week, we start with international soybean news. Brazil has reported that 77% of their soybean harvest is completed and they are slightly ahead of last year’s pace. The industry also expects China to source 80% of their soybeans from Brazil, with the other 20% from the rest of the world. Tuesday, April 2, and Wednesday, April 3, are two significant days for U.S. news. On Tuesday, April 2, we will have access to the new season’s planting intentions and the quarterly stock report; these two reports are important because they will give the market an idea of how much stock is available and how much may reach the market, which will determine how sensitive the market will be to weather-related information. On April 3, the news will come out about which import tariffs will be imposed and which will be postponed, and if many import tariffs are imposed, it could negatively affect demand and put further pressure on prices.

Last week Wednesday, the new crop estimates report came out and showed that all grains were adjusted upwards across the board. White and yellow maize were respectively adjusted 4% and 5.3% higher, with white maize being about 1.6 million tons more than the previous season, and yellow maize about 68,000 tons more than the previous season. With more certainty about the size of the crop, this has put pressure on prices. Sunflowers and soybeans were adjusted upwards by 138,000 and 540,000 tons more than the previous season, respectively, which also puts pressure on prices. Our expectation for the season ahead is that prices could trade slightly lower as we approach the delivery month, but we may trade upwards again later in the year around September or August, as our domestic stocks are still at a lower level than we normally see. Due to the widespread rain predicted for the next few days, we expect producers to struggle with harvesting, and there could be short-term support for the spot month prices.