Agbiz economist, Wandile Sihlobo, says preliminary estimates are pointing to a 44 cents per litre increase for petrol and 38 cents for diesel. This is largely due to increases in the price of Brent crude oil and is not so much influenced by Rand/Dollar exchange rates.

Commenting on the impact in the agriculture sector, Sihlobo says the planting season will already have drawn to a close in February. He says impacts will be felt by transport and logistics operators that need to convey imported maize.

He says total maize imports currently stand at 1.78 million tons, which is 66% of the seasonal import forecast of 2.70 million tons. The balance is set to be imported over the next three months.

Sihlobo says about 80% of South Africa’s grain is normally transported by road, meaning that the expected fuel price increase will put pressure on the food value chain.

The full report can be downloaded here:

20170118 South African fuel prices set to increase next month.pdf

Source: Agbiz