May 2022

17 May 2022 Interest rates are definitely going up this week. However, economists seem divided about whether the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the South African Reserve Bank (Sarb) will announce a 25 basis points (bps) or 50bps rate increase on Thursday. According to the Bureau for Economic Research (BER), factors such as rapid policy […]

16 May 2022 – South Africa is stacking up well against its other emerging market counterparts in the trade stakes, and although the world may sometimes feel there’s far more bad news than good right now, latest research paints “a relatively benign picture” for emerging market trade balances this year. The Institute of International Finance

13 May 2022 – The South African Summer citrus marketing campaign in the US is likely to start in earnest by the middle of June, according to Summer Citrus from South Africa. This will be some weeks earlier than last year and is the result of the Californian crop coming to an early end this

11 May 2022 – Demand for LCL (less-than-container-load) services is expected to continue to grow as ocean capacity tightens amidst widespread disruption caused by the pandemic and a war in Europe. According to Peter Sand, chief analyst and market expert at Xeneta, the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine is slowing recovery. “When prices that

10 May 2022 – News that some of the world’s leading shipping lines have posted record profits during the first quarter of 2022 has not been well received in South African fruits circles. Justin Chadwick, chief executive of the South African Citrus Growers’ Association (CGA) has been one of the most outspoken critics, highlighting say

What we need to do to secure our supplies and credit 9 May,  2022 – In these times of difficult economic conditions and extreme supply side turmoil, we find that clients don’t have the ability to rely on suppliers to keep stock on their behalf. The old way of managing stock “just in time” is

6 May 2022 – There is the risk that more countries will impose export bans on their crops amid heightened global food security concerns and elevated food prices as war rages in Ukraine. Indonesia this month prohibited the export of its palm oil exports. National Agricultural Marketing Council (Namc) agricultural economist Thabile Nkunjana said in

5 May 2022 – South Africa’s export trade continues to set new records, a trend that began during the second year of the Covid-19 pandemic. At just below R170bn, exports for March were a whopping 32% higher than in February and 10% higher than the previous record (in March 2021). It is clear that the

4 May 2022 – A gauge measuring South African manufacturing sentiment dropped the most in nine months in April after the worst flooding in almost three decades left more than 400 people dead, damaged businesses and halted operations at the nation’s biggest port. Absa’s purchasing managers’ index, compiled by the Bureau for Economic Research, dropped

3 May 2022 – The Western Cape – which accounts for more than half of South Africa’s agricultural exports – looks set for a bumper season of fruit exports. Estimates for the province’s fruit exports project an increase of 6% for apples compared to the previous season, 12% more for pears, 26% for nectarines and