Too sexy for my chicken

“Going where angels fear to tread,” is how Astral CEO Chris Schutte explains the company’s recent acquisition spree.

The company has taken advantage of the decimation in the industry to acquire cheap assets and add capacity to its operations, specifically in South Africa’s only three provinces showing positive growth – Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape.

Earlier this year it acquired a chicken producer, Thornhill Farm, as well as a chick hatchery from Argyle Farms in KwaZulu Natal which was in provisional liquidation.

Then it bought the abattoir assets of Darling Fresh Chicken, a Western Cape company at a liquidation auction.

Astral will use these assets to expand its Mountain Valley operation which is near Camperdown and increase its supply of fresh and value-added poultry segments in the KwaZulu-Natal market.

The rest of the Darling equipment will be used to expand capacity at Astral’s County Fair operation in the Western Cape.

In this regard the company recently concluded an agreement with Pioneer’s Quantum Foods that will see Quantum supply the County Fair abattoir with 1.15 million broilers a week. This will bring the number of birds processed at the abattoir to 1.6 million/week. READ MORE

Source: www.moneyweb.co.za

Road barrier to African chemical trade

AFRICA’s shaky transport infrastructure is a major obstacle to the development of a continental chemicals industry, says Patrick Earlam of the Deloitte business consultancy.

Although established multinationals and a growing number of Asian companies, particularly Chinese, believed there were significant opportunities in Africa, Mr Earlam said they were put off by the perils of moving toxic products across the continent’s often badly-maintained roads network.

"Transport of chemicals across Africa is a major barrier," he said. "If infrastructure does not improve, it will be difficult to grow the chemicals sector significantly."

Mr Earlam, the Johannesburg-based head of Deloitte’s Southern African chemicals division, was speaking after the release of an international Deloitte report on the chemicals industry. It found the tentative economic recovery in mature markets is likely to encourage more mergers and acquisitions in an industry that has seen plenty in recent times.

"In highly fragmented markets, (further) consolidation will be important as companies seek to rationalise capacity and gain economies of scale, while demonstrating top-line growth," the report said, and "there will be a strong cadre of targets for mergers and acquisitions activity".

Agrochemicals (a generic term for pesticides, synthetic fertilisers and other chemical products used in agriculture) are forecast to be particularly busy, as accelerating population growth and an expanding middle class in emerging countries increase the need for food production. READ MORE

Source: www.bdlive.co.za

Sanctions on Moscow threaten SA trade flows

THE crisis in Russia and Ukraine has prompted the US and Europe to ratchet up sanctions against Moscow, threatening trade flows with South Africa which last year imported 50% of its wheat from Ukraine.

Though trade with Ukraine and Russia accounts for an insignificant share of South Africa’s total, in some individual product markets it could become a problem should the situation in Eastern Europe worsen.

Last year 46.3% of South Africa’s total wheat imports came from the Ukraine and Russia. "This could pose a risk should South Africa be forced to look to other more expensive providers of wheat," said Vunani Securities economist Ilke van Zyl.

Rising food prices are among the key upside risks to South African consumer inflation.

Fortunately, South Africa does not rely on Russia for oil, says the report. Though Russia’s largest export item to South Africa is mineral fuels, oils and distillation products (accounting for 30.8% of Russia’s exports to South Africa last year), Russia supplies only 0.7% of South Africa’s crude petroleum oil imports.

But South Africa does get about 11% of its total fertiliser imports from Russia. In addition, almost 10% of South Africa’s total imports of copper wire come from Russia as does 7.4% of South Africa’s imports of cigars and cigarettes. READ MORE

Source: www.bdlive.co.za

African farmer game: Exciting way of learning agribusiness

The African farmer, a new innovative game that aims to make it very exciting for people interested in learning about farming principles to acquire some of the basic skills, is now available free online.

According to a statement released by the Future Agricultures Consortium, the free game, which is online at www.africanfarmer.org was created by a team from the University of Sussex and Future Agricultures, UK.

 

“The ‘African Farmer’ puts you in charge of a farming household in a village, as you make decisions and face challenges – from food prices, diets and work, to more unpredictable chance events like weather and disease. It builds on a long history of educational games, including the Green Revolution Game and Africulture,” says the release by Future Agricultures. READ MORE

 

Source: www.businessdayonline.com

 

Monsanto makes environmental commitments, working in partnership to advance sustainable agriculture

It’s an unavoidable dilemma: Fresh water and productive soil are vital to sustain life and to grow the food we need. As the global population skyrockets during the next three decades, so will the demand for food, fresh water and healthy soil. This reality creates an urgent challenge for everyone involved in growing food: produce more while using resources more efficiently.

“Agriculture is at the intersection of many major challenges today – whether it’s growing population and food demand, water availability, soil health or climate change,” said Hugh Grant, chairman and chief executive officer at Monsanto. “Addressing these challenges directly is what all of us at Monsanto are focused on every day – working together with farmers and partners around the world to deliver a safe, affordable and nutritious food supply that sustains our planet.”

As part of its broad commitment to sustainability, today Monsanto announced two important companywide commitments to help address critical challenges in the areas of water and nutrient efficiency.  READ MORE

Source: Monsanto

Copa-Cogeca calls for immediate action on South African citrus

European agricultural cooperative Copa-Cogeca has submitted a letter to EU commissioner Tonio Borg requesting immediate blockage of South African citrus imports that may pose a risk of black spot.

The European Standing Committee on Plant Health will discuss a draft proposal on restricting South African citrus shipments at its meeting on April 29-30 in Brussels.

A similar proposal was submitted for committee discussion at its meetings in March and November. The topic of black spot risk from South African citrus has been on the committee’s agenda repeatedly since September.

Copa-Cogeca’s most recent request cites the European Food Safety Authority report from February that found existing measures for preventing black spot entrance as appropriate.

The EU had established a limit of five black spot detections in South African citrus imports before implementing a ban on the fruit. Detections had reached 36 by season’s end, however. READ MORE

Source:  www.freshfruitportal.co.za

SA could see biggest maize harvest in 30 years

South Africa is likely to raise its maize output forecast for 2014 after late season rains boosted yields, a Reuters survey showed on Wednesday, putting the country on track for its biggest harvest in more than three decades.

The government's Crop Estimates Committee (CEC) is likely to raise the forecast for the year to 13.1 million tonnes from a previous estimate of 12.955 million tonnes, according to an average estimate of four trading houses polled by Reuters.

The estimates ranged between 13.0 million tonnes and 13.333 million tonnes.

The CEC said last month a harvest of about 13 million tonnes or above will be the largest since 1981, when the maize crop was 14.4 million tonnes.

The committee will release its third production forecast for summer crops and intentions to plant for winter crops on Thursday.

Maize is the staple crop in South Africa and a bigger crop will be a relief for the country after stocks from last year were depleted by large export commitments. READ MORE

Source: Moneyweb.co.za

Poultry producers poised for a rebound

THE poultry sector could slowly start to emerge from an extended downturn in the second half of this year, making it one to watch for analysts and fund managers.

The industry has been through a difficult few years, weighed down by cheap imports, soaring feed costs, weak consumer demand and impending regulations to cap the levels of brining allowed in frozen chicken products.

Nine smaller producers have either gone under, filed for business rescue or been absorbed by larger companies in recent months. Astral Foods has recently snapped up the assets of two producers at liquidation auctions.

The sector had something of a reprieve last year when tariffs were imposed on imports from most regions — though Europe was exempt due to free-trade agreements. However, the sector has since lobbied for duties on "below-cost" imports from Europe.

The International Trade Administration Commission of South Africa (Itac) sent an investigative team to Germany and the Netherlands between March 26 and April 10 as part of its verification process. READ MORE

Source: BusinessDay

SA falls behind China, as Zimbabwean trade fair opens

The Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) opened in Bulawayo, the country’s second largest city, on Tuesday with Zimbabwe’s largest trade partner, South Africa trailing behind China which is this year’s largest foreign exhibitor at the trade fair.

China occupies 1,061m² of space, nearly a 40% increase from the 600m² it had last year. South Africa exhibitors, led by Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry Elizabeth Thabethe, have taken up 800m² of exhibition space — the same as last year.

Figures released by the Department of Trade and Industry indicate that despite Zimbabwe’s uncertain economic environment, South African firms over the past three years have been able to lap up lucrative deals from the five-day trade fair, which is due to end on Saturday. Deals sealed from the fair by South African companies amounted to R6.6m in 2011, R7.1m in 2012 and R55.6m in 2013.

Zimbabwe Industry, Trade and Commerce Minister Michael Bimha said on Tuesday that this year’s fair would provide a platform for potential investors interested in Zimbabwe to network, explore new markets and sources of investment and technology transfers. READ MORE

Source: BusinessDay

Food security eludes almost 1-billion

BY OLIVIER DE SCHUTTER

For the past six years, it has been my responsibility to report to the United Nations (UN) on how well people’s right to food is being upheld. The picture that has emerged is a troubling one: the ability of millions to produce or access adequate food has been imperilled by dysfunctional global food systems.

These systems are efficient only from the point of view of maximising agribusiness profits and producing huge volumes of exportable cereal commodities.

They are highly inefficient on every other count: almost 1-billion people are still hungry and undernourished, while 1.4-billion are overweight and obese; millions of small-scale farmers are unable to live from food production; and the natural resource base on which food production depends is being rapidly degraded.

This catalogue of poor outcomes raises questions about why we would freely choose a system whose benefits accrue to so few at the expense of so many. The answer is: we haven’t. Our food systems have emerged by default, by diktat and by virtue of the effective veto power of agribusiness to any reform running against its interests. The greatest deficit in the food economy is the democratic one.

Food democracy must start in cities and municipalities. By 2050, when the world population will have reached 9.3-billion, about 6.3-billion of these inhabitants will live in cities. It is vital that these cities identify logistical challenges and pressure points in their food supply chains and develop a variety of channels to procure their food.  READ MORE

Source: BusinessDay Live

African agribusiness sector can grow to $1 trillion by 2030

African agribusiness sector worth about $313 billion currently and providing for more than 70 percent of the jobs on the continent could triple in value by 2030 to become a $1 trillion market that will lift millions out of poverty, a World Bank report, Growing Africa: Unlocking the Potential of Agribusiness, says.

With such growth means Africa’s agricultural exports will dominate global markets; and the continent’s farmers will get a new lease of life as they become competitive in the global marketplace.

But this will not be easy. The world bank says every single player in the sector will have to play their part well for this feat to be achieved. The government, private sector and farmers will have to tap into available resources such the widely untapped water sources, arable land (over 450 million hectares) and rising agribusiness investors on the continent.

“Water scarcity has become a major constraint because of competition from rapidly growing industrial sectors and urban populations,” AfricaRenewal quoted the World Bank report says. “Yet Africa has both water and land in abundance.”

But the report also rigorously highlights many stubborn and recurring obstacles in the path of this agribusiness progress in Africa. It says structural reforms are needed to encourage investment in the sectors and a proper infrastructure plan needs to reduce wastage between the farm and the market place.

“Infrastructure is a high priority for jump-starting agribusiness throughout Africa. Best bets for infrastructure are irrigation, roads, and markets,” the report says.  READ MORE

Scaling up agribusiness should be Africa’s next growth frontier

Africa’s economic performance over the past decade has been remarkable, having reached an average growth of 5 percent. If this growth is maintained, projections indicate Africa’s gross domestic product should increase approximately threefold by 2030 and sevenfold by 2050, outstripping Asia’s. Yet this growth has not translated to creating jobs or tackling inequalities.

Beyond growth, the continent needs transformation. The internal, external and historical reasons that its industrial potential has not been reached can be attributed mainly to the failure of policies, often imposed. Colonialism has left behind institutions and an infrastructure base designed to enhance extraction of Africa’s resources, as opposed to value addition.

Economic structural adjustment programmes have also had negative effects on technological accumulation, human capital development and the performance of manufactured exports.

Agricultural production is one of the most important economic sectors in the majority of African countries. About 75 percent of Africans rely on it for their livelihoods. History illustrates that agriculture, particularly the developed agribusiness and agro-industry sectors, has been the driver of economic growth in countries around the globe, from Brazil and China.

In Africa, agribusiness and agro-industries account for more than 30 percent of national incomes as well as the bulk of export revenues and employment. Scaling up agribusiness could be the next growth frontier. It could offer immediate value addition through commodity-based industrialisation that exploits forward and backward linkages with the rest of the economy. Such industrialisation could lift many rural dwellers out of poverty while creating jobs across the economy. READ MORE

Source: Business Report.  #IFAMAFRICA

Green economy could aid in global unemployment challenge

Transitioning to a green economy can help the world mitigate rising unemployment levels, particularly at a time when youth unemployment is peaking.

Globally, in 2013, 202-million people were unemployed, up five-million on the previous year, said International Labour Organization (ILO) Green Jobs Programme policy specialist Moustapha Kamal Gueye at the Department of Environmental Affair’s (DEA’s) ‘Green jobs dialogue’, in Midrand, on Wednesday.

An ILO report on global employment trends for 2014 indicated that the bulk of the increase in global unemployment emerged from East Asia and South Asia, representing more than 45% of the additional jobseekers, followed by sub-Saharan Africa and Europe.

And, if current trends continued, global unemployment was set to worsen, with more than 215-million expected to be unemployed by 2018.

“We are not in a very [optimistic] employment situation,” Gueye noted, pointing out that globally, youth – those aged between 15 and 24 – accounted for about 74.5-million of those unemployed, with youth in the Middle East and North Africa hardest hit.

Sub-Saharan Africa collectively was “better off”, with its youth unemployment percentage at 7.8%; however, while Africa was “not so bad off”, a critical concern was the high rate of “vulnerable employment”, which, at 77.4%, was much higher than the global average of 48%.
The ILO defined vulnerable employment as work with low pay, limited job security, poor working conditions and little or no social protection.

For many people in the developing world, vulnerable and informal jobs remained the only work available, the ILO pointed out in its report. READ MORE

Source: engineeringnews.co.za
Click to download the Global Employment Tends 2040 report

Fake seeds force Ugandan farmers to resort to 'bronze age' agriculture

Of the many factors that keep small-scale Ugandan farmers poor, seed counterfeiting may be the least understood. Passing under the radar of the international development sector, a whole illegal industry has developed in Uganda, cheating farmers by selling them seeds that promise high yields but fail to germinate at all – with results that can be disastrous.

Counterfeiting gangs have learned to dye regular maize with the characteristic pinkish orange colour of industrially processed maize seed, duping farmers into paying good money for seed that just won't grow. The result is a crisis of confidence in commercially available high-yield seed.

According to a paper published by World Bank researcher James Joughin, just 13% of farmers buy improved seed from formal markets in Uganda. The rest rely on seeds saved from the previous season or traded informally between neighbours, but such seeds generally produce far lower yields than genuine high yield hybrids.  READ MORE

Export strategy given greater weight in SA’s new industrial plan as trade deficit persists

The South African government’s latest Industrial Policy Action Plan (IPAP) places greater emphasis than was the case in the previous five versions on raising the country’s export competitiveness as part of what the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is now calling a ‘Smart Reindustrialisation’ strategy.

Speaking at the release of the sixth IPAP in Johannesburg on Monday, Trade and Industry Minister Dr Rob Davies said government would increasingly demand that those benefitting from industrial incentives become active exporters, particularly into growing African markets.

The export strategy, which was conceived against a backdrop of South Africa’s persistent trade-account deficit, would seek to reward export-oriented firms with conditional incentives, increased industrial financing and export-promotion assistance.

In its recently published ‘Economic Trends’ publication, the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) noted that the current account of the balance of payments deteriorated substantially, as the deficit-to-gross-domestic-product (GDP) ratio widened to 5.8% in 2013, from 5.2% in 2012. A key contributor was the country’s largest trade deficit in relation to GDP in four decades, which stood at 2.2%.  READ MORE

Source:  www.engineeringnews.co.za

New farm expropriation proposal could 'threaten food security'

According to a new proposal being considered by government, farm workers on commercial farms could own half of South Africa's farms, Rapport reported on Sunday.

The proposal meant expropriating half of every commercial farm in South Africa and handing it over to farm workers, according to the report.

The newspaper was in possession of a document named "Final Policy Proposals for Strengthening the Relative Rights of People Working the Land", which was discussed with agricultural organisations on Monday.

The historic owners would retain half of their farms and the state would pay for the 50% taken for the workers,Rapport said.

The money would not be paid to the farm owners but into a trust aimed at investing and developing the farm for all shareholders of the farm.

Farm workers shares
Farm workers get shares in the farm based on the number of years of service and the basis of their contribution in the development of the farm, according to the report.  READ MORE

Source: Mail &Guardian 

Zimbabwe bans fresh fruit, vegetable imports

Zimbabwe has banned imports of fresh fruit and vegetables with immediate effect, the agriculture ministry said on Wednesday, arguing that increased local production will meet domestic demand.

The ban will mostly impact supplies of tomatoes, potatoes, mangoes, grapes and apples from neighbouring South Africa, the ministry said in a statement, without giving figures on how much the fruit and vegetable import market is worth.

Zimbabwe's farming output, including from its staple maize crop, has slumped by over 60% since 2000, following seizures of white-owned farms by President Robert Mugabe's controversial government.

Mugabe said seizing the farms for redistribution to local blacks was to correct colonial injustices.
Critics say Mugabe – in power since independence from Britain in 1980 – turned one of Africa's most promising economies and a regional bread basket to a net importer of food.

But Mugabe's ZANU-PF says the economy, which shrank by over 40% in the decade to 2009, had been sabotaged by Western powers opposed to his nationalist policies.  READ MORE»

Source: engineeringnews.co.za

South Africa welcomes growth on U.S. citrus market

As the South African citrus industry approaches its 15th season on the U.S. market, exporters could be in store for a number of trade and protocol development.

 

Industry representatives,  including the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) met with U.S. importers and the Department of Agriculture (USDA) at the Western Cape Citrus Producers’ Forum, where attendees praised the growing opportunities for citrus traders.

 

U.S. consul general to Cape Town, Erica Barks-Ruggles, described the considerable growth experienced by citrus since the signing of the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) in 2000.

“Just to give you one example of the growing benefits AGOA confers on South Africa, consider fresh oranges. Exports of oranges from South Africa to the United States hit a new record in 2013, with nearly US$57 million in sales or over 39,000 metric tons in exports,” Barks-Ruggles told forum attendees.

 

“This is a 40% jump in value and a 25% increase in quantity compared to 2009, and two orders of magnitude (nearly 800 percent) increase since the program started in 1999.”

Barks-Ruggles also highlighted job growth in South Africa’s citrus industry, citing a successful partnership with the U.S.

 

“It is estimated that the development of the U.S. market for summer citrus has generated 20,000 permanent jobs in those areas approved for shipment to the United States and up to 80,000 temporary positions supporting as many as 120,000 South Africans families. Citrus exports put South Africans to work: that is the real benefit of programs like this one,” she said.  READ MORE»

 

Scource:  freshfruitportal.com

 



New International Egg Foundation launched to help combat malnutrition in developing countries

A new charitable foundation, the International Egg Foundation (IEF) has been launched by the International Egg Commission during its IEC Business Conference Vienna 2014.  This new global foundation will help provide people living in developing countries with greater access to eggs as part of its goal to combat malnutrition and provide people who are underfed and undernourished with access to a sustainable diet. 

Figures produced by the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) show that 870 million people suffer from chronic hunger.  Among children, it is estimated that 171 million under five years of age are chronically malnourished. 

Bart Jan Krouwel, Chairman of the International Egg Foundation, explained:  “A lack of access to high quality protein is a major problem for many people living in developing countries.  As FAO figures show, malnutrition is a major issue globally; millions of people are suffering.  Eggs are an excellent source of high quality protein, they contain all the essential vitamins and minerals required for a healthy diet.  Eggs also have two key advantages when it comes to helping to improve diets in developing countries, they are one of the most accessible forms of high quality protein, and they have a low carbon footprint, making them a truly sustainable option.” 

The IEF will work with leading charitable organisations, universities, and leading egg businesses around the world to provide financial support and technical advice to increase egg production in developing countries. 

The IEF will provide technical advice as well as financial assistance to farmers and entrepreneurs.  Operating in the truest sense of Corporate Social Responsibility, its work will enable farmers and entrepreneurs in developing regions to increase their own local egg production.  Bart Jan Krouwel went on to explain:  “The more eggs that are produced, the more eggs people can consume, providing a much needed source of high quality protein to people who are underfed and undernourished. 
“As well as providing access to food, small scale egg production schemes have been proven to help people in developing countries achieve financial independence and increase their social standing.  Small scale egg production projects have also proven highly successful in encouraging a sense of community in refugee situations.”

Through its links with the International Egg Commission and the world’s largest egg businesses, and by partnering with the world’s largest, most effective, charitable foundations and organisations including Rabobank Foundation and the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization, the International Egg Foundation is committed to making high quality egg protein accessible to people living in developing countries; it is committed to making a real difference to people’s lives.
By 2050 the world’s population is expected to reach 9 billion people, with the highest rates of population growth taking place in the regions that already suffer from the most severe food insecurity.  The vision of the IEF is to help facilitate an independent and sustainable food supply, ensuring food self-sufficiency for people now and in the future.  Its mission is to increase egg production and consumption in developing countries, providing people who are underfed with the means and methods to access high quality egg protein. 

The IEF will work from the ground roots up, to create a sustainable, self-sufficient food supply. To achieve this the IEF supports, and is supported by, other international organisations, it will add value to existing projects and establish new programmes where necessary.

Chairman of the IEF, Bart Jan Krouwel, has worked with world leading Corporate Social Responsibility projects for over 20 years, including being the former Managing Director Corporate Social Responsibility of the Rabobank Group, where, amongst other things, he was responsible for the Rabobank Foundation.

More information about the IEF and the projects it is already involved with is available at www.internationaleggfoundation.com

#IFAMAFRICA

South Africa can produce and store food for Africa

The population explosion in sub-Saharan Africa means that 2 billion people on the African continent will have to be fed by 2050. Silo capacity for grain storage in this part of the world is scarce and South Africa’s neighbours will increasingly use our infrastructure and storage facilities.

"Africa is an unstable continent that is faced by a population explosion. We must feed these people and food security should therefore be our goal. The grain industry in South Africa possesses the ability and infrastructure to produce food and store it effectively in our silos, which have a capacity of approximately 20,5 million tons," said Ms Annatjie Loio, president of the Grain Handling Organisation of Southern Africa (Gosa), at the 31st annual symposium of the organisation in Mossel Bay.

During the past season the local grain industry handled 16 million tons of grain, maize exports amounted to 1,8 million tons, and 15 000 tons of soybeans were exported. Imports comprised 81 000 tons of sunflower seed, 68 000 tons of grain sorghum, 90 000 tons of maize and 800 000 tons of wheat.

South Africa is on the eve of a possible 12,9 million ton maize harvest. The total storage for the coming season is expected to amount to 18 million tons, which can include 2 million tons of wheat, 263 000 tons of malting barley, and 112 000 tons of canola. READ MORE»

Source:  GOSA Media Release  #IFAMAFRICA

There is light at the end of the renewable power tunnel

Judging by comments at the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi recently, and recent statements by the South African Wind Energy Association, investment in the renewable energy sector is declining in Africa in general and in South Africa in particular. Evidence, however, indicates that far from experiencing a "rolling blackout", such investments face a clean, well-lit future.

A number of considerations support this. First, Africa is experiencing a remarkable growth surge that will require substantial infrastructure investments. Second, there is time pressure to roll out new power generation to address a rapidly declining reserve capacity in South Africa. Third is the increasing cost burden of carbon emissions; and finally, there is the opportunity to align fixed investment — such as renewable energy projects that provide tangible social and developmental advantages — with local procurement policies, skills training and employment for the rapidly growing population both in the rural and urban areas.

Africa’s population stands at just more than 1-billion and is expected to double by 2050. According to a report by the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena), titled Africa’s Renewable Future, in 2012, more than 590-million Africans (57% of the population) had "no access to electricity", and 700-million (68% of the population) were "living without clean cooking facilities".

More than 40% of the population lives in rural areas.

Separate economic reports put Africa’s growth at an average rate of 4% per year, and claim that over the past decade sub-Saharan Africa had six of the world’s 10 fastest-growing economies. READ MORE»

Source: BusinessDay   #IFAMAFRICA

Rabobank Poultry Report: Shifts in trade streams could have large impact on global poultry trade

Rabobank has published a new report on the global poultry industry, forecasting a shift to bearish conditions in all markets except the U.S.

 

In the report, the bank’s Food & Agribusiness Research team says that with the notable exception of the U.S., bullish poultry market conditions are turning bearish due to recent grain price hikes caused by turmoil in Ukraine and El Niño-related worries. Rabobank says that abrupt increases in feed prices (up 10%-15% vs. earlier expectations), avian influenza outbreaks in China, and a weaker Asian economy are expected to affect margins in Q2.

 

Major shifts in trade streams are expected this coming quarter, including pending anti-dumping duties on European Union poultry trade in South Africa, a new temporary free trade agreement granting Ukraine access to the EU market via quotas, and the potential return of exports from the United States to Chinese markets. These developments, taking place under weak global trade conditions in a traditionally weak season for chicken meat, could all have a large impact on global poultry trade. READ MORE»

 

Source:  businesswire.com  #IFAMAFRICA