September 2026

30 September 2026 – Container freight rates have softened ahead of China’s Golden Week holidays while the United States and China have identified goods representing US$60 billion (about R983.4 billion) in bilateral trade for possible tariff reductions. Cargo volumes began declining around the Far East’s mid-Autumn festival holidays with carriers offering discounts for October shipments, according to […]

29 September – South Africa’s economic recovery has been interrupted rather than derailed, after the economy unexpectedly contracted in the second quarter as the global energy shock, weak investment and pressure on key industries took their toll. Statistics South Africa figures released earlier on Tuesday showed that gross domestic product (GDP) contracted by 0.2% in

28 September 2026 – Zero tariffs on exports to China do not equate to zero compliance costs. Regardless of destination, a South African trader normally has to comply with the Customs and Excise Act, SARS customs procedures, tariff classification, valuation, rules of origin and any product-specific controls. The Chinese landed cost is therefore made up

South Africa has recorded a further 114 insolvencies in August 2026, taking the total number of insolvent businesses this year to 1,010. The latest data from Stats SA showed a 20% month-on-month drop in insolvencies, with 143 recorded in July 2026. The data point to declines across the board, with insolvencies down 44% from August

22 September 2026 – G20 merchandise trade accelerated in Q2 2026. Measured in current US dollars, quarter-on-quarter import growth rose markedly to 6.7%, from the 5.2% growth recorded in the previous quarter, reflecting strong increases in a number of G20 economies. G20 merchandise exports growth remained broadly flat at 5.9%. Preliminary estimates also point to

21 September 2026 – The rate at which the Pacific Ocean surface waters are warming in the current El Niño cycle is “highly unusual”, the South African Weather Service has warned. Existing temperature records are being broken. The El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is a cyclical but irregular climate phenomenon caused by warming surface water in

17 September 2026 – South Africa’s agricultural exports increased by 10% year on year to R66.7 billion in the second quarter of 2026, supported by higher export volumes and stronger commodity prices. International Trade Centre Trade Map data analysed by Agricultural Business Chamber Chief Economist Wandile Sihlobo shows that agricultural exports reached R126.9 billion during the first

16 September 2026 – African exporters are using lower import duties and improved market access to diversify into additional international markets, says Bill Blackie, chief executive of Business and Commercial Banking at Standard Bank Group, with early shipments from South Africa, Kenya, Zimbabwe and Nigeria already processed under a new zero-tariff framework. He says for

14 September 2026: Drought in 2024 contributed to a drop in business confidence, with Zambia dropping from eighth to tenth in the Standard Bank Africa Trade Barometer (SB ATB). Some 29% of the business leaders polled in 2025 were pessimistic compared to 24% in August 2024. “This pessimism may, in part, be due to the

11 September 2026 – A fresh wave of climate shocks, geopolitical tensions and trade disruptions is pushing the global food system into another period of supply anxiety, with international food prices rising to their highest level since late 2022 and raising fresh concerns for food-importing economies. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Food