South African Agricultural Commodities Weekly Wrap: 02 February 2018

This was a data-packed week for grains and oilseeds market, with the most notable release being the National Crop Estimates Committee’s preliminary area planting estimates for 2017/18 summer crop production season, and winter wheat sixth production estimates.

From a summer crop perspective, the 2017/18 initial planting estimates show a 7% y/y decline to 3.70 million hectares. White maize and sunflower seed plantings are the key reason for this overall downswing. Meanwhile, winter wheat production estimate was left unchanged from the previous month, at 1.48 million tonnes, which is 23% lower than the 2016 harvest.

Overall, this data was slightly better than market expectations and had limited impact on this week’s prices. The market ended the week on a mixed footing, with maize and sunflower seed prices on a positive territory, whereas wheat and soybean recorded losses. 

The fruit and vegetable prices were volatile this week with lower daily stock levels underpinning the market. The SAFEX beef carcass market remained flat throughout the week due to thinly traded volumes.

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South African Agricultural Commodities Weekly Wrap 02 February 2018