According to the South African Grain and Oilseeds Trade Association (Sacota), it became clear during the 2025/26 summer grain production season that South Africa is likely to achieve record harvests of corn and soybeans.
According to the South African Grain and Oilseeds Trade Association (Sacota), it became clear during the 2025/26 summer grain production season that South Africa is likely to achieve record harvests of corn and soybeans.
The Association noted that the mid-summer drought observed at the end of January and beginning of February created some uncertainty, but rains resumed in time for most of the country.
The first confirmation of the expected record production came on April 23, 2026, when the Crop Evaluation Committee (CEC) forecasted a corn harvest of 16.8 million tons and a soybean harvest of 2.8 million tons. These expectations of record volume were accompanied by forecasts of price decreases and subsequent reductions in exports.
Previously, initial forecasts for corn were around 3.6 million tons, and for soybeans, 600,000 tons. The South African soybean industry, being relatively new to the export market, faced an additional issue: the yellow corn export program historically receives priority at Durban port export terminals for various reasons, which potentially limits soybean exports, Sacota reported.
The organization stated that due to limited domestic stocks and demand from local processing plants, only a small amount of stock was initially available for export. Consequently, despite the record soybean harvest, sea shipments appeared to be minimal.
Nevertheless, Sacota continued to prepare for the export program. This included the annual export registration program for China, which was launched online. This initiative represented a tripartite cooperation between Sacota, the Directorate of Inspections (Department of Agriculture), and eCert (an online software vendor that facilitates, among other things, phytosanitary certificates for the department).
As Sacota reported, all interested traders, export terminals, and silos had to register according to Chinese requirements. Similarly, the Indonesian market, opened two years ago, also requires exporter registration to access this market.
However, around the same time, China, seeking to stimulate trade with Africa, offered to abolish all import tariffs on agricultural products entering China without any corresponding concessions for Chinese exports.
Following the successful Splendor and Passion models, Hero MotoCorp is actively working on launching two new motorcycles. The company plans to introduce its first electric motorcycle in 2027, which will expand its electric vehicle portfolio beyond the Vida scooter line. This was reported by Hero MotoCorp itself.
Klausilya Nandakumar, Chief Business Officer of Hero MotoCorp's Emerging Mobility division, confirmed this information. According to reports, she noted that they would be considering products appearing next year, not this year.
Harshvardhan Chitale, CEO of Hero MotoCorp, stated that the company is advancing in the development of its electric motorcycle program and will provide more details in the coming months. These future electric motorcycles will be based on two different platforms.
The first concept was presented by the company at the EICMA 2025 exhibition and is codenamed UBEX; it will be a street naked motorcycle. The second model, codenamed VXZ, is being developed in collaboration with the American company Zero Motorcycles.
This second motorcycle is positioned as a high-performance electric model aimed at adventure-oriented buyers. A design patent related to this project was recently filed in India. Nandakumar confirmed that these motorcycles will be built on an entirely new architecture, utilizing the experience from the Vida platform.
Currently, there is no information regarding the specifications of the future Hero motorcycles, such as range or battery capacity. Hero's entry into the electric motorcycle segment is expected to accelerate the development of this area, as most sales of electric two-wheelers currently belong to scooters.
Few brands offer dedicated electric motorcycles in the electric two-wheeler segment, and the availability of these models remains limited for companies. Royal Enfield released the Flying Flea in this segment, but this model is currently only available in Bangalore. There is hope that Hero's entry will change the landscape of this market.
