After remaining below 50 index points for five consecutive quarters, the Agbiz/IDC Confidence Index recovered significantly by 13 index points to 60 in the third quarter of this year. This is the highest reading since the third quarter of 2014. An index point above 50 indicates expansion in the South African agribusiness activity. Therefore...

The second quarter of 2016 real GDP figures released by Statistics South Africa showed that overall economic growth was well above market expectations of 2.6% quarter-on-quarter (q/q). The economy grew by a seasonally adjusted annualised rate of 3.3% q/q, following contraction of 1.2% q/q in the first quarter of the year. However, the agricultural sector...

• South African wheat import tariff has increased by 30% to a record high of R1 591.40 per ton, from the previous level of R1 224.31 per ton (see Chart 1). This came on the back of a decline in international wheat prices (US No 2HRW fob), which are currently at a six year...

The current drought has arguably been the most pronounced factor to have negatively affected the South African agricultural and agribusiness landscapes in recent history. The impact on crop and livestock production has been devastating and these industries are expected to continue to bear the brunt of the drought for years to come. Having said that, we need to...

There are growing concerns about the outlook of South Africa’s agriculture due to a number of macro-level risk factors, not the least of which being the current 2015/16 drought. However, the International Grains Council (IGC) reminded us that droughts are usually interspersed with several good production seasons, when they released their monthly Grain Market...