August 2026

31 August 2026 – South Africa will raise the benchmark price that’s used to calculate duties on sugar imports, a move long-sought by domestic producers like Associated British Foods Plc’s local unit in an industry that’s been battered by cheap foreign competition, according to people familiar with the matter. Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana signed off […]

27 August 2026 – 1,601 businesses have been liquidated in South Africa in 2026, but the total number of liquidations is down year-on-year. According to Stats SA’s latest data, the total number of liquidations decreased by 23.2% from 311 in July 2025 to 239 in July 2026. Liquidations of companies decreased by 44 cases, while

26 August 2026 – South Africa and the European Union (EU) are true trade partners, with the greatest parity between exports and imports of all SA’s trading partners. South Africa is the EU’s biggest trading partner in sub-Saharan Africa, with €46 billion (R880bn) of total trade in goods in 2025, according to European Commission figures.

25 August 2026 – South Africa could regain its investment-grade credit rating by 2028, according to Investec, which would mark a significant turnaround after more than a decade of being rated below investment grade. Investec’s South African Asset Allocation Committee says there is a reasonable chance of the country returning to investment-grade status in 2028,

24 August 2026 – The seasonally adjusted volume of world merchandise trade grew 1.9% in the first quarter compared to the previous quarter and 3.2% compared to the same quarter in the previous year according to recent WTO/UNCTAD data (downloadable from stats.wto.org). In value terms, world merchandise trade was up 2% quarter-on-quarter and 11% year-on-year in

21 August 2026 – The airfreight market remains highly sensitive to international political developments, a trend that was again evident during the first half of 2026. According to Heinrich Kirstein, SACO Shipping’s Cape Town branch manager, expectations are nevertheless positive for the third and fourth quarters, which traditionally mark the peak season and often bring

20 August 2026 – South Africa entered 2026 with cautious optimism. Inflation had moderated, interest rates appeared to be stabilising, and there were signs that economic activity was beginning to improve. Yet, beneath the surface, a different picture is emerging. At CGIC, they are seeing increasing evidence that the trading environment has become more challenging. Risk

18 August 2026 – The US Senate supports extending the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) for another two years. But the process is not yet final. There are further processes to be completed before the bill reaches the US President for approval. Positively for us, South Africa remains part of this process, and AGOA

17 August 2026 – Growers from KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga gathered outside Treasury’s offices on 27 July to call for the urgent gazetting of a revised sugar import tariff. They said delays in updating the tariff mechanism have left the local industry exposed to heavily subsidised imports from countries such as Brazil, India, and Thailand. The

14 August 2026 – As we pass the midpoint of 2026, the global food supply chain remains resilient in the face of major disruptions domestically and in global trade. But we must not take this resilience for granted, and it is vital that industry and government work together to deliver the regulatory changes needed for