South Africa’s agricultural exports fell slightly to $3.37 billion (R59.7bn) in the second quarter of this year, a 0.1% decline relative to the same period last year following recording a sharp increase of 6% year on year in the first quarter, data from Trade Map showed yesterday.
Wandile Sihlobo, chief economist at Agbiz, said the slight decrease in the second quarter reflected the moderation in the prices of some agricultural products and a decline in the volumes.
“Notably, while the value of the exports is down mildly from the second quarter of 2023, the efficiency at the ports this year was arguably much better than what the stakeholders experienced in 2023,” Sihlobo said.
“This again shows that the decline in export value is largely due to lower prices of some commodities and a decline in volumes after a challenging domestic production environment, specifically in grains and oilseed.”
The top exported products by value include citrus, apples and pears, maize, wine, dates, pineapples, avocados, sugar, grapes, fruit juices, nuts, and wool.
John Hudson, head of agriculture at Nedbank commercial banking, said the modest decrease observed in the second quarter was anticipated and could be attributed to price pressure and a slight decline in volumes.
“This trend follows a challenging summer production season, particularly for grains and oilseed crops. The year 2024 has presented challenges, evident in extreme climatic events such as floods, fires, and cold spells, all of which are expected to impact crop production volumes and exports,” Hudson said.
“For instance, this is reflected in the most recent citrus export crop estimate, which has reduced by approximately 20 million cartons or 10%.”
Zama Sangweni, an economist at Absa agribusiness, said the slight decrease in agricultural exports comes as expected due to the lingering after-effects of the mid-summer drought.
“We note two key contributors to the slight decline from citrus and maize. EU citrus prices trended lower in Q2 due to strong supply from Egypt. South African citrus export volumes were also lower due to a production decrease supported by adverse weather events that created sizing and disease issues,” Sangweni said.
“Additionally, a more attractive juice price saw citrus volumes diverted to processing. Apple and pear export volumes and prices, in turn, trended positively, with strong demand from the EU and India.”
Absa agribusiness said it expected a slight recovery in exports for the third quarter of this year, as EU pricing for citrus has been recovering along with the expectation that global demand for apples and pears will persist until the end of their harvest season.
From a regional perspective, the African continent maintained the lion’s share of South Africa’s agricultural exports, accounting for 42% of the total value. The products leading the exports list on the African continent were maize, maize meal, sugar, apples and pears, wheat, soybean oil, fruit juices, ciders and wine, among other products.
As a collective, Asia and the Middle East were the second-largest agricultural market, accounting for 21% of the share in overall agricultural exports. The exports to this region were mainly citrus, apples and pears, wool, nuts, sugar, beef, sheep and goat meat, berries, wine, and maize.
The EU was South Africa’s third-largest agricultural market, with a share of 19%. Citrus, dates, avocados, figs, mangos, guavas, apples, pears, wine, grapes, fruit juices, wool, and nuts were among the primary agricultural products South Africa exported to the EU.
The Americas region accounted for 6% of South Africa’s agricultural exports in the year’s second quarter. The main exported products included citrus, wine, fruit juices, grapes, apples, pears, and nuts. The rest of the world, including the United Kingdom, accounted for 12% of the exports.
BUSINESS REPORT