December 2021

23 December 2021 – The 2022 wine grape harvest is expected to amount 1,42 million tons, which is 80 000t above the industry’s five-year average of 1,34 million tons, and 2,2% smaller than the 2020 harvest, which came in at 1,45 million tons. This is according to the first crop estimate. Conrad Schutte, manager of Vinpro’s […]

22 December 2021 – South Africa recorded R557.9-billion of foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows in the third quarter of this year versus inflows of R17.4-billion in the second quarter, central bank data showed on Wednesday. The central bank said its December Quarterly Bulletin that the large inflows were due to technology investor Prosus buying about 45% of its South African

20 December 2021 – While the sharp downturn in the latest gross domestic product (GDP) data is largely the result of the civil unrest in July, the third-quarter GDP data points to additional weaknesses in the economy, above all the sharp decline in automotive exports and plummeting prices of iron-ore and platinum, the third-quarter Real Economy Bulletin (REB) by thinktank

14 December 2021 – The South African government’s blunt approach towards liquor sales bans has caused irreversible damage to the wine and tourism industry. This was according to the managing director of Vinpro, Rico Basson, who expressed disappointment at the recent Western Cape High Court ruling against Vinpro’s challenge of the constitutionality and lawfulness of

13 December 2021 – Global supply-chain disruptions could remain high until H2 2022 amid renewed COVID-19 outbreaks around the world, China’s sustained zero-COVID policy and demand and logistic volatility during Chinese New Year, trade credit insurer Euler Hermes said in a new report on Thursday. Nevertheless, the trade credit insurer expects trade growth to remain

10 December 2021 – South African wines have continued to perform strongly in China – a developing market the country believes holds significant potential. According to Marcus Ford, Asia market manager Wines of South Africa (Wosa), who is based in Shanghai, South Africa is on track to export somewhere in the region of R450 million

9 December 2021 – The South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Sacci) Business Confidence Index (BCI) declined by 2.1 index points to 92.8 in November, after having recovered slightly to 94.9 index points in October. The improvement in October was mainly driven by greater social stability and favourable developments with regard to global commodity prices and

8 December 2021 – South Africa’s journey towards economic recovery has been thrown into a tailspin after bumping into giant potholes that shocked gross domestic product (GDP) to decline more than expected in the third quarter. Statistics South Africa (StatsSA) yesterday revealed that the country’s real GDP shrunk by 1.5 percent in the third quarter,

7 December 2021 – Although the Southern African citrus industry is celebrating another record breaking export season – the third year in a row – global and domestic challenges meant it did not translate into higher returns for local growers this year. In March this year, the Citrus Growers’ Association of Southern Africa (CGA) estimated

6 December 2021 – While the Agbiz/IDC Agribusiness Confidence Index (ACI) showed that agricultural businesses’ confidence is at its second highest level in 20 years, this positive sentiment is not shared by all stakeholders. Wandile Sihlobo, chief economist at Agbiz, said the ACI results reflected a favourable outlook for the 2021/22 production season. “The higher