South Africa: The South African Sorghum Market
Sorghum production in South Africa decreased dramatically over the past decade as producers preferred to plant more profitable crops like corn and oilseeds. Post estimates that the decreasing trend in sorghum production will continue in the 2019/20 MY, with a 10 percent drop in production to 150,000 tons. As a result, sorghum imports are expected to double in the 2019/20 MY to 20,000 tons. Sorghum production increased in the 2018/19 MY to 166,000 tons after drought conditions restricted production to only 115,000 tons in the 2017/18 MY. South Africa imported 45,739 tons of sorghum in the 2017/18 MY and Post estimates sorghum imports at 10,000 tons in the 2018/19 MY. The United States is the major supplier of sorghum to South Africa with more than 90 percent of total sorghum imports.
