South African Agricultural Commodities Weekly Wrap

Deidre Carter — Fri, 17 Aug 2018 10:56:22 +0000

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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Arithmus — Fri, 26 Oct 2018 07:01:12 +0000

This week ended with some positive news in terms of production. South African farmers intend to increase the area planted to summer grain and oilseed by 5 percent from the 2017/18 production season to 4.03 million tonnes.
The planting activity has recently begun in the eastern and central regions of South Africa and likely to gain momentum following good rainfall in the past couple of days. Looking ahead, the weather, as a major determinant if the planned plantings materialises, will be a key focus in the market.
In terms of winter crops, wheat, barley and canola production estimates were lifted from the previous month due to expected higher yields. Nonetheless, these estimates, specifically wheat could be revised down marginally in the coming month owing to reports of recent crop damage in the Swartland area of the Western Cape following heavy winds and rainfall at the beginning of this week.
The SAFEX beef carcass market experienced a quiet week with prices unchanged from levels seen last week. In terms of the supply, the South African farmers slaughtered 211 951 head of cattle in August 2018, down by 11 percent from August 2017.

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Sourced: Agbiz, Agribusiness Research

Agriculture Commodities – Agri Limpopo