The Xchange Platform Agricultural Market Viewpoint with Wandile Sihlobo

South Africa will likely miss its maize export forecast for the 2025-26 marketing year

Loading player...
South Africa may miss its maize export forecast of 2.4 million tonnes for the 2025-26 marketing year, which ends in April. The exports so far are at 1.7 million tonnes as of the first week of March 2026. Given a softer weekly export pace, it is unlikely that the country will see strong enough momentum in the remaining weeks of the current marketing year to reach the 2.4 million tonnes seasonal forecast for maize exports. The challenge is the softer global demand, not supply availability. I discuss this issue further in the podcast and its implications for the sector and maize users.

Listen to the podcast for more.
16 Mar English South Africa Investing · Food

Other recent episodes

Recent floods are another headwind for South Africa’s agricultural growth

We are likely in another year of mixed fortunes in South Africa’s agriculture. At an aggregate level, we believe that the sector is likely to see some growth this year. However, the subsector view will show significant divergence, as various parts of the sector face an array of pressures. One…
20 May 7 min

Canola production in South Africa may reach a fresh high in 2026-27

Many agricultural crops and value chains have shown dramatic progress in recent years. They should serve as an inspiration for further growth of this sector. I often write about South Africa's soybean success story, whose production increased from 67,700 tonnes in the 1993-94 production season to an expected record harvest…
28 Apr 5 min
All episodes