by Wandile Sihlobo | Oct 15, 2020 | Agricultural Production
One feature that has characterised global agricultural markets over the past few weeks is rising prices. The growing demand from China as the country rebuilds its pig herd, which was decimated by African swine fever, combined with dry weather conditions that adversely...
by Wandile Sihlobo | Sep 27, 2020 | Daily Notes
My aim in this morning’s blog post is to provide an update of South Africa’s grain trade data for the week of 18 September 2020. I will also share highlights from the International Grain Council monthly global grains update report. SA grain trade data South Africa...
by Wandile Sihlobo | Sep 16, 2020 | Daily Notes
This morning’s blog post is co-authored with fellow agricultural economist, Tinashe Kapuya. Our aim is to briefly reflect on the recent 2020/21 global grain and oilseed production forecasts from the United States Department of Agriculture and further draw implication...
by Wandile Sihlobo | Sep 6, 2020 | Daily Notes
I’m making it a routine to use this Monday note to reflect on the two weekly data releases in the South African agricultural market, namely (1) the grain producer deliveries and (2) trade activity. For now, the focus on the producer deliveries data is on summer...
by Wandile Sihlobo | Aug 13, 2020 | Agricultural Production
This essay first appeared on Business Day, August 13, 2020 Tempus fugit (time flies) is an apt phrase to describe developments in the global agricultural market. It feels like just the other day when I wrote an update note on global grain conditions following the...
by Wandile Sihlobo | Jul 4, 2020 | Agricultural Production
The high-frequency data on both domestic and global markets reinforced our view that grain prices could be under pressure this year and that, in turn, could lead to subdued food price inflation. In June 2020, the International Grains Council (IGC) lifted its estimate...
by Wandile Sihlobo | Jun 4, 2020 | Agricultural Production
I’ve recently cautioned that dryness in parts of Europe and North America could lead to poor grain yields, which would mean that anticipated record harvests in 2020/21 might fail to materialise. But data released by the International Grains Council (IGC) last week...