The latest White Maize price drops to R3818, while the Jul’24 price decreases to R3643 per ton. The Yellow Maize spot price drops to R3605, with the Jul’24 price decreasing to R3616 per ton. The Soybean spot price drops to R7759, with the May’24 price lower at R7654 per ton. The Sunflower spot price drops to R8100, while the May’24 price decreases to R7900 per ton. My feeling is that maize prices may come under pressure in February but could possibly rise again over the first two weeks of March. Currently, it seems that July prices may remain under pressure, but as I mentioned last week, keep an eye on the weather locally and in Brazil and North America. It also appears that soybean prices may move below last year’s levels and then further decline in March, April, and May. We must remember that American farmers currently have a lot of stock in silos and are not eager to sell at current prices, so there is plenty of supply available. Sunflower prices may also show a temporary increase around mid-March, but the expected price is downward until May.

The Wheat spot price drops to R6095, with the Dec’24 price currently at R6015 per ton, and we now expect these prices to remain in an upward trend, but lower demand still limits these upward movements. Cheap wheat from Russia and Ukraine also puts pressure on prices, particularly putting a lot of pressure on the profitability of farmers in Europe.

Furthermore, we’ve seen the sorghum import parity price drop to R5899 per ton, with hulled Groundnut from Argentina lower at R36,486 per ton. The Cotton import parity price rises due to stronger demand from China to R13,042 per ton.