TOP NEWS:
The year-to-date (01 January to 31 May 2021) preliminary trade balance surplus of R202.59 billion is an improvement from the R10.63 billion trade balance surplus for the comparable period in 2020. Exports increased by 62.1% year on-year whilst imports increased by 26.9% over the same period” – SARS Trade Statistics
Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development, Thoko Didiza, has made amendments to Section 29 of the Alert Level-4 Covid-19 Lockdown Restrictions dated June 2021. The amendment allows liquor, including wine, to be transported from manufacturing plants to storage and from licensed premises for safekeeping.
FRUIT & VEGETABLES: “The cabbage price and volumes both increased last week to R2 159 per ton. Carrot volumes increased, and pricing dropped to R3 011 per ton. The onion market was slightly under pressure with higher volumes entering the market. Onion quality is reportedly good and sold between R3.50 and R4 per kg. Potato volumes were not as strong with prices still high, selling on average at R5 per kg. Quality of this fresh produce remains good” – Abrie Rautenbach & Olga de Freitas, ABSA Agribusiness
MACADAMIA NUTS: “Our crop estimate for 2021 is 57 834 tonnes of nut in shell (NIS: measured at 1.5 % moisture content). This is 18.2% higher than the 2020 crop of 48 925 tonnes” – SAMAC, Industry Statistics
PORK: “The Average Purchasing Price (excl. sows) reached R27.99/kg (in nominal terms) during Week 25 of 2021, decreasing by 0.3% from Week 24. The SAFEX Yellow Maize (R/kg) averaged R3 181/ton this week (-2.5%), resulting in the Purchasing Price to SAFEX Yellow Maize ratio reaching 8.8 (+0.6%). The quantity of animals sampled during this week reached 33 809 pigs (+1.7%)” – SAPPO, Domestic Carcass Price Statistics South African Pork Industry Report.
CITRUS: In the citrus complex volumes were down across the board with lemons posting the biggest decline of 52% year-on-year (y/y) at 543,028 cartons (15kg cartons) for week 23 (fig A3). This has brought the cumulative YTD shipments to 15.52 million cartons which means lemon volumes for export markets are so far 6% lower relative to last year. In terms of market share, Europe, the Middle East, and Russia collectively accounted for 78% of the total lemon shipments with shares of 28%, 37%, and 13% respectively. However, volumes of exports to Europe and the Middle East for the YTD fell by 14% and 17% respectively y/y while the Russia enjoyed strong growth of 24% y/y” – Paul Makube, FNB Agri Weekly
WOOLS: “The 2020/21 wool season ended on a positive note this week, with a 1,5% increase in the average market indicator, to close on R162.68 p/kg. A total of 12 896 bales were on offer, with an overall sales clearance of 95,3%. The bulk of the offering consisted of merino wools, with 55% of the offering testing 20 micron and finer. The sale started off sluggish, but improved competition on the second day drove prices upward across all micron categories. The finer micron merino fleece wools and certified sustainable wools once again attracted better competition and outperformed the market. The better market conditions translated into a rise of 2,94% in US$ terms, with the SA Rand trading 1,4% stronger against the US$.” – Cape Wools SA, Weekly Market Report
