August 2021

17 August 2021 – While the global focus on environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues looks to phase out coal as an energy resource, the prospects for South African coal production remain strong for coming decades. Following the 3rd Coal Industry Day, held online in July, SRK Consulting principal coal geologist Lesley Jeffrey said coal […]

16 August 2021 – South Africa’s agricultural sector is export-orientated. Nearly half of the annual produce, in value terms, is exported in regular and good seasons. The 2020/21 season has been one such season, producing the second consecutive strong output performance, with an even larger harvest for major field crops, horticulture and the wine industry

13 August 2021 – Neutral consolidators are seeing skyrocketing demand for imports. And with the global increase in cargo volumes, along with port congestion, capacity constraints and unreliable carrier schedules, CFR Freight has been forced to look at alternative routings for LCL cargo, says trade manager Michelle Horner. “Along with our global partners, we are

11 August 2021 – Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) reports that, in June, overall South African manufacturing production increased by 12.5% year-on-year primarily as a result of positive contributions from the sectors of motor vehicles, metal products, wood products, food and beverage, as well as furniture and other manufacturing. The contributions made by the automotive sector, comprising the manufacturing of motor vehicles, parts and accessories and

10 August 2021 – If the questions I frequently receive through various media platforms and e-mail are anything to go by, I would say concerns about rising food price inflation still linger. These actually hold water, as various food product prices have been rising at a relatively faster pace. For example, in June 2021 annual

6 August 2021 – The trade surplus in June rose to R57.7-billion – its highest level – from R54.4-billion in May, the SA Revenue Service said in a statement on Friday. “Exports for the year-to-date (1 January to 30 June 2021) increased by 51.0% to R895.7-billion from R593.29-billion over the same period during 2020. Imports

5 August 2021 -South African private sector activity fell at its fastest rate in 10 months in July as output tumbled in the wake of civil unrest in some parts of the country and tighter coronavirus lockdown restrictions, a survey showed on Wednesday. IHS Markit’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell to 46.1 in July from

4 August 2021 – As the deciduous fruit industry counts the cost of the double blow to its logistics chain, thanks to the civil unrest and Transnet cyberattack, there is plenty of good news according to Hortgro’s trade and markets manager, Jacques du Preez. “South Africa expects to produce a record crop of 1 million

3 August 2021 – As the harvest for the 2020/21 summer grains and oilseeds drew to a close and focus increasingly shifted towards the 2021/22 production season, which began in October, preliminary insights suggested that South Africa could have another good season despite less rainfall than in the 2020/21 season, said the Agricultural Business Chamber

2 August 2021 – The booming Chinese economy is sucking in massive amounts of South African exports as it needs our mineral exports such as coal and iron ore to fuel its economy. According to the latest data from the General Administration of Customs of China, South African exports to China showed an 83.2% year-on-year