Sihlobo also provides more information about the latest developments in the sector. Here is Sihlobo...

See PODCAST below

Sihlobo says after deteriorating from the 50-point mark to a 39-point mark in the second quarter, which can be characterised as the period when uncertainty prevailed in the agriculture and agribusiness sectors of the economy due to strict Covid-19 lockdown regulations, the Agbiz/IDC Agribusiness Confidence Index (ACI) rebounded to 51 in the third quarter of 2020.

He adds that this indicates that agribusinesses are slightly optimistic about business conditions in South Africa. “This corroborates various high-frequency data which show that most of South Africa’s agriculture and agribusiness sectors have not been severely affected by the ongoing Covid-19 crisis, as the sector was classified as essential and largely did not close down throughout the lockdown period,” says Sihlobo.

Furthermore, subsectors that were severely affected by the lockdown regulations, include the tobacco and wine industries. Sihlobo says sales in these subsectors were prohibited for certain periods during certain levels of the country’s lockdown.

He also adds that the third-quarter survey, which was conducted in the first two weeks of September, covers agribusinesses that operate within all agricultural subsectors across South Africa.

OFM News