South Africa: South Africa's Declining Trend in Sorghum Production to Continue

Over the past decade, sorghum production in South Africa decreased dramatically as producers preferred to plant more profitable crops, like corn and oilseeds. For the 2020/2021 MY, this trend is expected to continue, as Post estimates a 6 percent decline in area planted to sorghum and a 14 percent decrease in production to 120,000 tons. As a result, sorghum imports will rise by 80 percent to 55,000 tons. South Africa’s sorghum crop for the 2019/20 MY is estimated at 138,885 tons, which is 9 percent higher than the 127,000 tons of sorghum produced in the 2018/19 MY. South Africa is also experiencing a significant depreciation of its exchange rate since the start of 2020, which coupled with the increase in production to cause a sharp rise in the import parity prices of sorghum. As a result, Post estimates sorghum imports will drop by 50 percent to 30,000 tons in the 2019/20 MY. The United States is the major supplier of sorghum to South Africa with almost 95 percent of total sorghum imports.

South Africa: South Africa's Declining Trend in Sorghum Production to Continue