After postponing the congress for two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Agbiz hosted a successful biennial, flagship congress at Sun City last week. More than 350 members and other stakeholders in the agricultural value chain gathered for two days, working strategically and tactically towards fruitful solutions. The theme of the congress centred on "building resilience" in South Africa's agriculture and agribusiness sectors, with inputs led by distinguished speakers that provided information on the network industries, the economy, and sector-specific matters. The output of the discussions and the breakaway sessions will help enrich inputs that Agbiz will use to lobby for growth-enhancing policies and programmes in government and various platforms. 

At the gala dinner, Agbiz honoured former Agbiz CEO Dr John Purchase for his exceptional service to the South African agribusiness sector during his career presenting him with an Agbiz Honorary Award. An Agbiz Honorary Award was also presented posthumously to the late Kobus Steenekamp of Bayer for his service to the agricultural sector, and specifically for the huge impact he had on how the agricultural media in South Africa comprehended and reported on biotechnology.

At the Agbiz annual general meeting that was held at the Agbiz Congress 2022 at Sun City in North West last week, the Agbiz leadership team was re-elected unanimously. Francois Strydom of Senwes will lead the leadership corps as chairperson for another term. Sean Walsh of Kaap Agri was re-elected as first deputy chairperson and Dr Langa Simela of Absa as second deputy chairperson. The following members were elected to represent Agbiz basic members in the Agbiz Council: Piet Smit of Komati Group, André Uys of Acorn Agri, Johann Kotzé of SAPPO, Francois Swanepoel of SSK, and Louw van Reenen of Beefmaster.

We are in a period of elevated prices, and food is at the core of these increases. For example, in May, South Africa’s consumer food price inflation accelerated to 7,8% y/y, from 6,3% in the previous month. This is the quickest pace since March 2017. The increase was broad base on all food products in the inflation basket. This largely mirrors the uptick we have been seeing in the global agricultural commodity prices, and indeed the domestic market. Importantly, we are now also starting to see the spillover the Russia-Ukraine war had on agricultural commodity prices transmitted into retail food prices. In fact, for the grain-related and vegetable oils products, we will likely see a continuous mild uptick in the coming month or two, which could push up mildly the headline food consumer price inflation number further. Since the Russia-Ukraine war began and disrupted the global grains market, the global agricultural commodity prices have increased significantly, with the FAO's Global Food Price Index in May averaging 157 points, which is up 22% y/y, coming from a record high seen in March. Agbiz chief economist Wandile Sihlobo discusses the latest data in the linked article.

South Africa's 2021/22 summer crop harvest is in full swing across the country. The feedback from farmers about the yields they are receiving has been encouraging. Hence, we believe that the data that the Crop Estimates Committee (CEC) released this afternoon is unlikely to change much over the coming months. The CEC released its fifth production estimate and introduced minor adjustments from the previous month. For example, South Africa's 2021/22 maize production is estimated at 14,68 million tonnes, down by 0,3% from last month. This is on the back of a slight downward revision of white maize estimates, which is now estimated at 7,47 million tonnes, while yellow maize was adjusted upwards and is currently at 7,21 million tonnes. Essentially, this is down by 10% from the 2020/21 season crop but well above the 10-year average maize harvest of 12,80 million tonnes and annual domestic consumption of 11,80 million tonnes. Importantly, this means that South Africa will remain a net exporter of maize, which we anticipate to be just over 3,0 million tonnes in the 2022/23 marketing season (note: this marketing year corresponds with the 2021/22 production season). In the linked article, Wandile Sihlobo discusses the latest data from the Crop Estimates Committee.

As food prices continue to rise, there are important questions to ask about what kind of winter wheat harvest can be expected, and what farmers will actually be planting. It is estimated that global wheat production will be down by around 1% this year, mainly because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Chief economist at Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa (Agbiz) Wandile Sihlobo weighs in on the issue in the linked interview with Newzroom Africa interview.

Taking advantage of Beijing's deeper focus on trade with African countries to help reduce gaping deficits, Kenya struck an export deal with China for fresh avocados in January after years of lobbying for market access. While 10 avocado exporters have passed Kenyan inspections, China now wants to do its own audits and, based on the past experience of some other African fruit producers, it could take a decade to get the green light. Reuters spoke to nine officials and businesses across Africa who said Chinese red tape and a reluctance to strike broad trade deals were undermining Beijing's plan to boost African imports. Ramping up agricultural exports, however, is one of the few options many African countries have to rebalance their trade relationships with China and earn the hard currency they need to service mountains of debt, much of it owed to Beijing. Read more in the linked Reuters article.

Shanghai's daily average container throughput has recovered to 126,000 TEU, or 95% of pre-lockdown levels as the world’s busiest box port works to regain the productivity lost during the two-month lockdown that ended early this month. Throughput on 18 June alone reached a single-day high of 142,500 TEU. The figures were released by China's Ministry of Transport (MOT) during a press briefing on 27 June. MOT’s transport service department director-general Cai Tuanjie said that all the ministry’s divisions are working with authorities in Shanghai and nearby provinces to accelerate work and production in logistics and transportation. Read more in the linked article, first published on Container News.

Large areas of Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya are currently in the grip of a severe drought. An estimated 16.7 million people face acute food insecurity. That’s more than the combined populations of Austria and Switzerland. Four consecutive rainy seasons have now failed since late 2020, a climatic event not seen in at least 40 years. This meteorological drought has resulted in a loss of soil moisture, caused waterways to dry up, and led to the death of millions of livestock. The Horn of Africa experiences two rainy seasons per year. The timing varies across the region, but rains broadly fall from March to May (the “long rains”) and from September to December. The delayed start and then failure of the March to May rains this year has been felt particularly in equatorial parts of the region, where the long rains contribute 70% of the annual total. Read more in the linked article, first published on The Conversation.

Business Unity SA (BUSA) notes with grave concern the announcement by Eskom that stage 6 load-shedding will be implemented The implementation of stage 6 load-shedding is a serious blow to an economy that is already struggling with low growth and a lack of decisive action on the part of government to make the necessary interventions to attract investment and put the country on a sustainable and inclusive growth path. The implementation of stage 6 load-shedding will be a serious blow to all sectors of the economy and could lead to small and medium businesses buckling under the pressure of managing an untenable situation. BUSA is also very concerned about the unprotected wage strike that is in progress. There are reports of intimidation of workers not participating in the strike. This must be condemned in the strongest terms if it is indeed the case. Please click here to read the full media statement by BUSA.

According to the latest BUSA Cargo Movement Update, port operations this past week were somewhat hampered by wind and weather delays. However, the week's performance significantly improved on many indicators, which bodes well for the future. Also, there were some further positive points with Durban indicating an improvement in slots wasted via the NAVIS booking system. Unfortunately, some of the gains were offset by congestion at the port following closures of the N3 earlier in the week. On a further positive note, Cape Town reported having a full complement of eight STS cranes on Monday and also reported that they are in the process of obtaining a ninth crane (a contract to move the crane has already been awarded). On the international shipping side, role players are not expecting the ongoing congestion to ease until next year. After several weeks of reduced throughput (primarily due to the situation in China), ports are concerned that the return to normal will coincide with the third-quarter peak season before the current problems of port congestion and the lack of drivers are solved. Please click here to peruse.

The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) would like to bring to the attention of traders that regulations regarding the classification, packing and marking of processed meat products intended for sale in South Africa were promulgated in the Government Gazette and delayed for implementation by six months. These regulations are published in terms of section 15 of the Agricultural Product Standards Act 119 of 1990. The purpose of the said regulations is to, inter alia set out norms and standards according to which compositional properties, quality standards (classification) and requirements relating to packaging and labelling of processed meat products are to be inspected by the designated assignee, namely Food Safety Agency (Pty) Ltd. Read more in the linked DALRRD media statement.

The Citrus Growers' Association of Southern Africa, shares the latest news in the citrus industry in its weekly update - From the desk of the CEO. Please click here to peruse.