South African Agricultural Commodities Weekly Wrap

• In two months’ time, farmers in the eastern parts of South Africa will commence with field preparation for the 2018/19 summer crop production season.
• It is still too early to tell what the potential size of the new season summer grain and oilseed crop will be. At this stage, we are closely monitoring the weather developments regarding the possible El Niño event. We will receive a clearer indication from weather forecasters on this matter in the coming month.
• Aside from this, the weaker rand against the US dollar provided support to the domestic grain and oilseed market this week. The notable gains were on white and yellow maize with spot prices, each up by 3 percent respectively from last week. Soybean and sunflower seed prices were up by 2 percent and a percentage point from last week’s average prices.
• Meanwhile, wheat spot price settled in negative territory compared to last week’s average price.
• The SAFEX beef carcass market experienced a quiet week with prices unchanged from levels seen last week. In terms of the beef supply, the South African farmers slaughtered 190 454 head of cattle in June 2018, down by 14 percent from the corresponding period last year.
• Looking ahead, the data calendar for next week is fairly light with no major releases.

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