South African Wheat Imports Seen Reaching 1.75 Million Tons

(Bloomberg) – South Africa may import another 485,000 metric tons of wheat by the end of this season that runs through September, according to the nation’s biggest farmer group.

Imports may total 1.75 million tons in the 2014-15 season, Grain SA said Wednesday in an e-mailed statement. The country already shipped in 1.26 million tons by May 1, according to data on the Pretoria-based South African Grain Information Services website.

While South Africa is the sub-Saharan region’s second-largest grower of wheat, after Ethiopia, it’s a net importer of the cereal. It’s the region’s biggest buyer, after Nigeria and Sudan, U.S. Department of Agriculture data show.

South Africa imported 36,223 tons of wheat in the week to May 1, shipping the cereal from Ukraine and Russia, the South African Grain Information Services data show. The nation’s Crop Estimates Committee will release its estimate of last year’s final wheat production on Thursday.

Wheat declined 4.6 percent this year to 3,818 rand ($317) a ton on the South African Futures Exchange in Johannesburg.