July 2022

29 July 2022 – The World Trade Organization director-general’s mid-year report on trade-related developments covering mid-October 2021 to mid-May 2022 shows WTO members continued to exercise restraint in imposing trade restrictions. Speaking at the launch of the report yesterday, DG Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said it was important not to underestimate the risks generated by the Covid-19 […]

28 July 2022 – The South African Poultry Association (Sapa) has come out strongly against the non-renewal of import tariffs on poultry, implemented to defend the South African Poultry sector against predatory trade practices, like dumping. While South Africa’s International Trade Administration Commission (Itac) suggests the imposition for five years of anti-dumping duties against the likes

27 July 2022 – The International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) latest global economic outlook review sounds the alarm bell for a slowdown in global economic growth – but prospects are more positive for South Africa. The global economy, still reeling from the pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, is facing an increasingly gloomy and uncertain outlook,

26 July 2022 – Amid calls for African nations to boost exports to China, agriculture seems an obvious choice. More than 60% of the population of sub-Saharan Africa are smallholder farmers and 23% of the region’s GDP comes from agriculture, according to McKinsey. Africa is also home to 60% of the world’s arable land. Demand

25 July 2022 – Despite South Africa’s (SA’s) landmass being mostly a semi-arid climate, the country has ample agricultural output. As a result, SA exports about half of what it produces in value terms every year. These SA-exported products were worth a record US$12.4bn in 2021, making the sector an increasingly important currency earner. Agricultural

21 July 2022 – Freight forwarders in the business-to-business value chain of international trade are key as their decisions can have a major impact on a port, its operations, and viability, according to Dr Cashandra Mara of the University of Johannesburg. Delivering an address at the 2022 Southern African Transport Conference in Pretoria on behalf of Dr

The United Kingdom is South Africa’s third-largest export market, totaling R12.5 billion in goods exported as of 2021. Wesgro’s recently launched Cape Trade Portal has seen early success from the UK market, especially in terms of its Agri-oriented products which Brits love. So far, over 90,000 users from the UK have accessed the site with

19 July 2022 – Box ships continue to cram into leading ports across the world, with 37.8% of vessels from the global container fleet idling at berth or anchorage while waiting to be worked, shipping services provider Clarksons has found through its port congestion index (PCI). This figure, recorded last Thursday by the London consultancy’s

18 July 2022 – At the WCO (World Citrus Organization) Annual General Meeting, the production and export forecasts for the 2022 Southern Hemisphere citrus season were presented. These forecasts come from information collected from member associations (Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Peru, South Africa, Uruguay). The members of WCO (World Citrus Organisation) gathered on June

15 July 2022 – Economic cooperation between Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa has been surging, Chinese customs data shows. China’s foreign trade with other BRICS member states amounted to 1.64 trillion yuan ($244 billion) in the first half of the year, up 14.1% in annual terms, according to data from the General Administration