South Africa raises 2014 maize output forecast by 2 percent

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa raised its 2014 maize output forecast by over 2 percent on Wednesday as good weather helped produce a bumper crop that should contain food prices and give a lift to sluggish growth in Africa's most advanced economy. The government's Crop Estimates Committee (CEC) raised its 2014 forecast to 14.307 million tonnes from its previous estimate of 14.017 million tonnes, the biggest harvest in over three decades. This was higher than market expectations of 14.031 million tonnes, according to a Reuters poll of traders conducted last week. The CEC's forecast for white maize remained unchanged at 7.697 million tonnes but the outlook for the yellow variety was raised by 4.5 percent to 6.610 million tonnes based on data gleaned from deliveries to silos. Agriculture is one of the few bright spots in South Africa's economy with data on Tuesday showing the sector expanded almost 5 percent in the second quarter when GDP overall grew a tepid 0.6 percent, just dodging a recession after contracting in the previous three months. The CEC also said it estimated that farmers had planted 468,000 hectares for wheat, the lowest on record, with the harvest forecast to reach 1.779 million tonnes against the previous crop of 1.870 million tonnes.