LETTER: We shouldn’t read too much into China’s maize imports from SA

China bought 108, 104 tonnes of maize from SA in the last week of March into April. Importantly, this is not the first time China has bought SA maize, but the volumes were always small in the past, averaging 3,780 tonnes per annum over the past 10 years. 

If we consider SA’s 2022/23 total maize exports of 3.64-million tonnes, China’s recent purchase is still a relatively small volume. Our main export markets for maize include Taiwan, Japan, Vietnam, Mexico, Italy, South Korea, Botswana, Zimbabwe and various other markets on the African continent.  

China is itself a major maize producer, accounting for 22% of global maize production annually, an average of 277-million tonnes. Still, because of its large usage, China imports maize from the world market. Over the past three seasons these imports have averaged 25-million tonnes a year. The leading suppliers of maize to China are the US, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Russia and Kazakhstan, and now SA. 

It has been suggested on social media that SA’s recent maize exports to China have political connotations; that China is somehow attempting to replace the US as a supplier. But US maize exports to China have averaged 17-million tonnes a year in the past two seasons, far exceeding SA’s total maize production of 15.9-million tonnes this year.  

In good seasons SA’s maize exports can exceed 3-million tonnes, divided between the range of markets mentioned above. It is therefore clear that we shouldn’t read too much into China’s recent maize imports from SA.  

Of course, as a proud South African working in agriculture I am always keen on seeing more of our high-quality food on the plates of Chinese consumers.  

Wandile Sihlobo
Department of agricultural economics, Stellenbosch University

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