SOUTH AFRICAN MAIZE ESTIMATE CALLED CONSERVATIVE The South African government's maize production estimate of 7.8 mln tonnes for the current year is "rather too conservative," leading grain and produce merchants Kahn and Kahn Pty Ltd said. The company, in a detailed report, estimated the harvest as high as 8.3 mln tonnes and said if this forecast is met the ostensible surplus for export will be approximately 2.25 mln tonnes. "This paradoxically is creating a problem for the Maize Board," Kahn and Kahn said. It said the maize export price currently is depressed and the board is "probably confronted with the necessity to maintain or slightly increase the internal price of maize again...To offset the ostensible loss which must be faced" on exporting surplus amounts.