Malawi Corn Price Declines 15% After Excess Production, U.S. Agency Says

Malawi in southern Africa has produced too much corn for five years, pushing prices down by 15 percent this year, the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Famine Early Systems Network said.

Malawi has a corn surplus of 1.2 million metric tons after production of 3.8 million tons this year and 3.5 million tons last year, Malawi’s leader Bingu wa Mutharika told Parliament on May 23. The country has subsidized fertilizer use the past six years to boost food production and reduce poverty.

National grain storage stockpiles are not being used because of low prices in local markets, the USAID network said. Prices through September will probably stay below the government-set price of 40 kwacha (27 cents) a kilogram (2.2 pounds), it said.

Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-01/malawi-corn-price-declines-15-after-excess-production-u-s-agency-says.html