WandileSihlobo
Apr 16, 2018
Drier and warm weather conditions have kept the US wheat on the back foot. On 08 April 2018, farmers had planted only 2 percent of the intended area for spring wheat, well below the area planted at the corresponding period last year, according to data from the USDA.
Apr 17, 2018
Yesterday we indicated that sub-Saharan Africa’s 2017/18 wheat imports could reach 26 million tonnes, up by 18 percent from the previous season. What we didn’t mention is that the leading wheat importers within the sub-Saharan African region are Nigeria, Sudan, South Africa, Kenya, Ethiopia and Côte d'Ivoire.
Apr 18, 2018
It seems that the winter rainfall, which typically starts at the end April in the Western Cape province, could be slightly delayed. The weather charts have cleared across most parts of the province, with light showers expected within the next eight days to be mainly concentrated towards the coastal areas.
Apr 18, 2018
Food and non-alcoholic beverages inflation decelerated to 3.5% in March 2018, from 3.9% in the previous month. This is the lowest levels since December 2013 - thanks to last season’s robust crop output, as well as deceleration in meat price inflation.
Apr 19, 2018
Trade aspects remain an important factor in the market as South Africa is a net importer of wheat (see Chart below). The wheat import tariff has triggered again on 10 April 2018 to R437 per tonne. The previous trigger was on 20 March 2018, which then, was calculated at R293.74 per tonne, after an uptick in international wheat prices (No2 HRW), which were supported by unfavourable weather conditions in the US wheat growing regions.
Apr 19, 2018
There has been a lot of writing on the land reform subject since December 2017 when the ruling party adopted the notion of expropriation without compensation. A number of analysts (ourselves included) warned of the unintended consequences of the aforementioned policy proposal.