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Edgar Vhera Agriculture Specialist Writer
SOARING demand for soya bean and maize on the weekly Zimbabwe Mercantile Exchange (ZMX) recently saw farmers failing to satiate buyers’ growing appetite, as all the offered products were scooped leaving a gap still to be filled.
Statistics from the ZMX show that buyers submitted soya bean bids for 500 tonnes at an average price of US$520 per kilogramme worth US$260 000.
Farmers were willing to sell only 32, 50 tonnes at an average price of US$514, 63 valued at US$16 725, 48.
At the end of the auction, all the offered soya bean crop was bought with farmers pocketing US$16 900.
A total of 467, 50 bids and offers with an average price of US$520 worth US$243 100 were unsuccessful due to shortage of soyabean.
Meanwhile, on the same trading day maize buyers submitted bids for 183, 80 tonnes at an average price of US$308, 26 with a total value of US$56 658, 19.
Farmers offered only 32, 30 tonnes of maize at an average price of US$310 per tonne valued at US$10 013. All the offered maize was sold at an average price of US$310, 09 with sellers grossing US$10 015, 91.
A total of 151, 50 bids and offers with an average price of US$307, 87 valued at US$46 642, 31 were unsuccessful.
Food Crop Contractors Association (FCCA) Chairperson Mr Graeme Murdoch said farmers no longer had surplus commercial soya bean and maize to sell.
“As we go into the new summer cropping season, the bulk of the commercial maize and soya bean has already been sold and the remaining maize is now in the small-scale sector. Households in this sector are holding on to their maize for food security reasons, particularly in light of concerns around a pending El Niño drought,” Mr Murdoch said.
Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers Union (ZCFU) president Dr Shadreck Makombe concurred saying food security concerns were at play as farmers were keeping whatever maize they had, thanks to the forecast El Nino weather pattern that might cause crop failure.
“Most farmers are now securing their grain instead of selling to ensure they have enough stocks to cushion them from possible food shortages resulting from the predicted El Nino weather pattern,” Dr Makombe said.
Stockfeed Manufacturers Association of Zimbabwe (SMAZ) Executive Administrator Dr Reneth Mano said the ZMX trading pattern confirmed that the Zimbabwe market was now dry of commercial supply of maize and the decision by Government to open up the borders for maize imports was the right thing.
“South Africa is the only country in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) exporting maize and its current free on board (FOB) price for white maize is US$208 per tonne landing in Harare at between US$308 and $323 per tonne. Between October 2023 and April 30, 2024 the stockfeed industry is set to import 240 000 to 300 000 tonnes of maize primarily from SA,” Dr Mano said.
The September 22 quoted prices for Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE)/South African Futures Exchange (SAFEX) Futures Grain Market Contracts for deliveries in October 2023 through December 2024 show that the average FOB soya bean price in SA was US$520 for the period October to December this year.
The Meteorological Service Department (MSD) recently said much of the country was likely to receive normal to below-normal rainfall for the period October 2023 to March 2024. For the bulk of Matabeleland North, parts of Midlands covering Gokwe North and South districts, parts of Matabeleland South province covering Bulilima district will receive below normal to normal rainfall for the sub-season October-November-December, said the report.
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