September 2021

15 September 2021 – The South African Revenue Service (SARS) today releases trade statistics for July 2021 recording a preliminary trade balance surplus of R36.96 billion. These statistics include trade data with Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho and Namibia (BELN). The year-to-date (01 January to 31 July 2021) preliminary trade balance surplus of R289.99 billion is an […]

14 September 2021 – The Local third quarter Agbiz/IDC Agribusiness Confidence Index (ACI) retracted back to 67 points in the third following a surge to an all-time high of 75 points in the second quarter of this year. Agricultural Business Chamber (Agbiz) chief economist Wandile Sihlobo, who compiles the index, said yesterday that the current

13 September 2021 – The sugar industry has lost over R84 million from tons of cane that were burnt in arson attacks during the riots that swept through parts of KwaZulu-Natal in July, the South African Canegrowers association reports. During the riots, SA Canegrowers reported a running total of R300 million in potential damage to

10 September 2021 – Subdued sentiment on global markets kept the rand in the red yesterday, putting a slight dampener on the substantial widening in the current account balance of payments, which came in at the largest surplus ever of R343 billion in the second quarter of 2021, advancing from R261bn in the first quarter.

9 September 2021 – South Africa would need to ramp up its logistics as the local agricultural output was likely to increase in the coming years, especially within the citrus sub-sector, which would demand extra capacity at the ports, according to the Agricultural Business Chamber (Agbiz). The chamber’s chief economist, Wandile Sihlobo, said the major

8 September 2021 – South Africa’s economy grew 1.2% in the second quarter compared to the previous three months, beating analysts’ forecasts, statistics agency data showed on Tuesday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast quarterly gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 0.7% in seasonally adjusted but non-annualised terms. In unadjusted year-on-year terms, GDP jumped 19.3%

7 September – Don’t expect any relief from the current level of ocean freight rates as these are likely to continue spiking in the latter half of the year. This comes as the cost of shipping containers has reached historical highs following the outbreak of Covid-19 around the world last year. As capacity plummeted, rates

6 September 2021 – South African private sector activity stabilised in August after a sharp downturn in July amid civil unrest and Covid-19 lockdown measures, despite widespread supply chain issues, a survey showed on Friday. IHS Markit’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose to 49.9 in August from an 11-month low of 46.1 in July, just

3 September 2021 – South Africa’s cross-border trade with its neighbouring countries suffered a decline in 2020 mainly due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on border closures and economic activities. The Cross-Border Road Transport Agency (C-BRTA) on Wednesday showed that South Africa’s total exports declined by 6 percent due to the impact of

2 September 2021 – South Africa recorded a trade surplus in July of R36.9bn, down from a revised R54.5bn in June. Exports fell 11% month-on-month on the back of the disruptions caused to transport links by the riots in KwaZulu-Natal and the cyberattack on Transnet that stalled movement at the country’s busiest port for nearly