March 2024

28 March 2024 – Solid business partnerships will become increasingly important to navigate market threats, according to Absa’s recently released AgriTrends Autumn 2024. While the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has dissipated, Absa AgriTrends identified various other global and local megatrends that now threaten international trade. The first of these is a slowdown in globalisation, called […]

26 March 2024 – More businesses closed their doors at the start of 2024 than last year, and there are warning signs that more could follow suit this year. According to Stats SA, the total number of liquidations dropped by 14.8% year-on-year in February 2024. Of the 138 businesses that closed their doors in February,

25 March 2024 – After declines over several quarters, international trade is poised for a rebound this year, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development’s (Unctad’s) latest ‘Global Trade Update’ states. The report details a 3% year-on-year contraction in global trade in 2023, on the back of lower trade in goods, but higher trade

19 March 2014 – With an economic growth forecast of only 1.6% over the next three years for South Africa, businesses are facing a tough trading environment, exacerbated by the impact of geopolitical tensions, disruptive new technologies, persistent weather catastrophe threats and failing public infrastructure and services. South African businesses will also be navigating a

19 March 2024 – Africa’s inefficient and aging ports are hampering the continent’s chances of capitalising on a surge in ship traffic that’s avoiding attacks by Houthi rebels through the Red Sea, logistics experts said. The number of vessels sailing around the southern tip of Africa is up 85% from the first half of December,

18 March 2024 – n February, the global food commodity price index, used as a benchmark, recorded its seventh consecutive decline, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). This trend was driven by decreased international prices of major cereals, which outweighed the increases observed in sugar and meat prices. The FAO

14 March 2024 – The well-known paths that shaped the global trade map are being redrawn, and regional trade lanes are becoming more important in global trade as the economy adapts to ongoing economic and geopolitical pressures and disruptions. The changing trade picture shows that overall global trade is growing at a slower rate than

13 March 2024 – China’s export and import growth in the January-February period beat forecasts, suggesting global trade is turning a corner in an encouraging signal for policymakers as they try to shore up a stuttering economic recovery. China’s improved export data joins those of South Korea and Germany, and Taiwan, who all saw their shipments top expectations over

12 March 2024 – After increasing somewhat in December, the Ctrack Transport and Freight Index (TFI) declined notably in January to a level of 119.3 – a drop of 2.1% compared with December’s 121.9. The extent of the weakness is almost similar to the pressure the sector experienced during the KwaZulu-Natal looting and flooding episodes, notes the index report.

11 March 2024 – While South Africa’s agricultural sector faced several challenges last year, it was not expected that the sector’s overall annual performance would drop sharply, the Agricultural Business Chamber (Agbiz) said after the release of data for gross domestic product (GDP) fourth quarter 2023. But the figures released yesterday by Statistics South Africa