Weekly neWsWrap
18 farmer’sweekly 9 August 2019
TheRedMeatProducers’Organisation
(RPO) has welcomed a decision by
Chinese authorities to allow red meat
imports from South Africa to resume.
This was despite the country’s foot-and-
mouth disease-free status not yet being
reinstated by the World Organisation
for Animal Health (OIE), following an
outbreak of the disease in January.
The announcement was made by
the agriculture department in the last
week of July, according to Gerhard
Schutte, CEO of the RPO. “Before the
outbreak, we exported red meat to the
value of R2 billion annually, of which
one-third was earmarked for China.”
The foot-and-mouth disease
(FMD) outbreak had resulted in a
significant drop in producer prices
due to the increase in local supplies.Indicationswerethatexports
to China would resume in
about two months, which could
contribute to a strengthening
of local prices, Schutte said.
South Africa exported meat to
about 42 countries globally, but
the main aim of local producers
was to penetrate the so-called
dollar, pound and yen markets.
“That’s why the exports to China
are so valuable to the local red meat
production industry. An added bonus
is that China imports high-end cuts
such as fillet and strip loin,” he said.
The RPO also expressed its
appreciation for the efficient way
the disease had been contained
by the national and provincial
agriculture departments.Chineseauthoritiesindicated
that red meat from all parts of
the country, except Limpopo, the
Ehlanzeni region in Mpumalanga,
and the Umkhanyakude region in
KwaZulu-Natal, would be allowed.
There had been no new FMD
outbreaks since January, and an
application had been filed with the OIE
to review South Africa’s status. The
RPO was hopeful that South Africa’s
FMD-free status would be restored
in the near future, Schutte said.
Meanwhile, the Namibia Agricultural
Union said that until South Africa’s
FMD-free status had been reinstated,
a ban on imports of cloven-hoofed
animals, as well as raw products from
cloven-hoofed animals, remained in
place in that country. – Annelie Colemanred meatSA receives go-ahead to resume red meat exports to China
Negativeagricultural
performancecontributedtothe
decisionbytheInternational
MonetaryFund(IMF)toadjust
itsprojectedoutlookforSouth
Africa’seconomicgrowthfor
thisyeardownto0,7%.
InitsWorldEconomicOutlook
reportforJuly,theIMFsaidthat
economicgrowthinSouthAfrica
wasexpectedtotakeplaceata
more“subdued”pace,orhalfa
percentlowerthanthe1,2%stated
initspreviousreportinApril.
Thiswas“followinga very
weakfirstquarter,reflecting
a larger-than-anticipated
impactofstrikeactivity
andenergysupplyissuesin
mining,andweakagricultural
production”,thereportstated.
TheIMFhasalsoloweredits
economicgrowthexpectations
for 2020 to1,1%,down0,4%
fromitsAprilprojection.
Bycontrast,thesub-Saharan
Africaregionasa wholewas
expectedtorecordeconomic
growthof3,4%thisyearand
3,6%nextyear,althoughthese
figureswerealsodownfromthe
Apriloutlook,albeitonly0,1%.
Agriculturaleconomist
ProfJohanWillemsetold
Farmer’sWeeklythattheIMF’s
assessmentwasrealistic,
andtheweakagricultural
performancehadbeenexpected.
“Inthefirstquarter,the
economywasdown3,2%,
andagricultureshrank
morethan13%.”Willemsesaidthepressureon
thesectorhadbeentheresultof
reducedgrainharvestprospects
anda declineinsheepproduction
inlargeareasofthewestern
partsofthecountrylastyear.
Thegrapeharvesthadalsobeen
smallerthanthepreviousseason,
andmorerecentlytherehad
beena negativeimpactoncitrus
exportsduetostrikeactionatthe
PortofNqgurainPortElizabeth.economy‘Weak agri performance added to SA’s lower growth projection’
He said the lower agricultural
output had been anticipated,
but that the overall slow
economic growth rate was
of greater concern.
“It’s not good for meat prices;
it’s not good for the price of milk.
The fact that the economy is
under pressure is also not good
for the agriculture sector.”
He also highlighted the fact
that the lower economic growth
projection had a ripple effect in
terms of the national budget.
“Treasury calculated the state
budget and state income based on
economic growth of 1,6%. If the
economy grows more slowly, this
means there is less tax revenue.”
In addition, government
expenses were increasing due
to the challenges experienced
by state-owned enterprises such
as Eskom and Denel, and there
were also indications of a further
credit ratings downgrade, he said.
Willemse added that he did not
anticipate much improvement in
agricultural performance for the
rest of the year. – Sabrina Deanenergy su pply
also a factor
in july outlook