The latest white maize spot price rose week-on-week to R5 349, while the July ’25 price also rose slightly to R4 126 per ton. The yellow maize spot price rose week-on-week to R4 030 per ton, while the July ’25 price rose to R3 948.
There are currently two stories developing that are particularly pulling the yellow maize market in two directions. Internationally, there is a lot of pressure on prices due to a large crop expected in America, farmers still sitting on a lot of stock on farms, and China wanting and importing less from America over the coming months. This pushes prices down.
Locally, however, we have not had a good production season and local stock levels will decrease as the year progresses. This pushes white maize prices much higher but also keeps yellow maize prices relatively high despite the pressure we experience on parity prices. If we look at seasonal trends, it looks like we could see a white maize price of R6 000 by the end of the year, while yellow maize’s upward movement will be limited by international prices which could remain suppressed.
As expected, the soybean spot price fell week-on-week to R8 530 with the May ’25 price now at R8 495 per ton. Brazil reported that they could realize 171.5 million tons of soybeans on approximately 47.3 million hectares in the coming season. Good quality in the USA and harvest pressure from Brazil are currently putting international prices under pressure and the feeling is that this could also force our local prices down. The only possible bright spot could come from the soybean oil market, but it’s still a bit early to tell.
The sunflower spot price strengthened week-on-week to R9 260, while the May ’25 price also rose to R8 865 per ton. Russia and Ukraine are experiencing hot and dry weather, which creates unfavorable growing conditions for sunflowers and puts the quality and yield under pressure. This causes support in the market and we expect it to spill over into the local market as well.
The wheat spot price rose to R6 151 with the December price at R6 183 per ton. The wheat crop in Russia and Ukraine is also suffering from the hot and dry weather, which has provided support to the market. Poor quality in France and Germany as well as the Australian crop struggling also caused prices to rise this week. Lower local stocks and positive sentiment in the international market can now support prices in the short term.
The sorghum import parity price landed in Durban rose last week to R5 452 per ton, the producer import parity price of shelled Argentine peanuts rose to R29 281 per ton, while the producer price of cotton in South Africa is currently trading at R28 080 per ton.