S.Africa maize crop seen f'cast slightly down

By Muchena Zigomo

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's Crop Estimate Committee (CEC) may slightly reduce its estimate of the country's total maize output for the 2008/09 season due to lower than expected yields, a Reuters poll showed on Tuesday.

The CEC is likely to lower its second 2008/09 maize production forecast marginally to 11.202 million tonnes from 11.217 million in the previous estimate last month, according to the average estimates of 10 trading houses polled by Reuters.

The traders' estimates ranged between 11.1-11.4 million tonnes.

"We have some farmers who had issues with a batch of seed that had problems pollinating so that might affect the estimate," a Johannesburg trader said.

"I don't think the area for the crop will be changed but the yields may have to be revised lower."

Another trader said there were "no fundamentals showing the estimate will be lower."

The CEC is due to release its second production forecast of this season's summer crops at 1230 GMT on Wednesday.

In its first survey of possible maize output for the 2008/09 season last month, the committee said it expected a slightly higher yield of 4.36 tonnes per hectare for white maize this season compared with 4.31 tonnes per ha in the previous season.