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13 September 2023 – South Africa’s agricultural exports amounted to $3.4 billion (R64bn) in the second quarter of this year, up by 0.1% year-on-year, according to data from Trade Map.
While South Africa’s agricultural exports in the first half of the year had been encouraging, the export earnings would likely soften this year from last year’s record, the Agricultural Business Chamber (Agbiz) said yesterday.
Agbiz chief economist Wandile Sihlobo said despite challenges in key export markets such as the EU in the case of citrus, the products that dominated the export list this quarter were citrus, maize, apples and pears, wine, sugar, soybeans, wool, avocados, pineapples, fruit juices, nuts, and grapes.
“Importantly, this good export performance was not only a function of price but also improved volumes. The prices of some agricultural products have declined notably from the 2022 levels,” Sihlobo said.
The lower commodity prices and the stringent regulations of the citrus black spot disease in the EU market were among the factors likely to result in lower export earnings. Agbiz expected the effects of these challenges to be more evident in the second half of this year.
The improvement in agricultural exports were said to partly demonstrate the results of continued collaboration between the industry and Transnet to improve the logistics at the ports. However, the agricultural organisation said more work was needed to improve the efficiencies.
From a regional perspective, the African continent remained the largest market for South Africa’s agricultural exports, accounting for 36% of the exports in the second quarter of this year. Asia and the Middle East were the second-largest region, with a 30% share. The EU was the third-largest region, accounting for 18% of the agricultural exports, with the Americas region at 6%.
The UK remained one of the largest single markets for South Africa’s agricultural exports, accounting for 7% of the exports in the second quarter. The remaining 3% was spread over various other regions of the world.
South Africa’s agricultural imports fell by 6% year-on-year (y/y) in the second quarter of this year to $1.8bn, according to data from Trade Map.
The products that still dominated the import list were rice, wheat, palm oil, whiskeys, and poultry. The whiskeys, wheat and poultry products were the main drivers of the decline in the value of imports in the first half of the year. Overall, South Africa had an agricultural trade surplus of $1.6bn in the first half of this year, up 9% y/y.
Nico Groenewald, the head of Agri Business at Standard Bank Business & Commercial Banking in South Africa, said the increasing local agricultural exports or trade was always good news, demonstrating the resilience of the country’s agri value chains to overcome the several logistical and trade- related challenges to cement its place as a net exporter of quality agricultural produce.
He said this spoke to at least two of the pillars of the Agriculture and Agro- Processing Master Plan (AAMP).
“Besides the positive impact of the trade balance, sustainable export growth is likely to bolster job creation in these value chains too,” Groenewald said.
The bank’s Agri Business unit said continuous collaboration with the government was necessary to keep the opening of new markets, and the widening of existing markets on the agenda. Source: IOL