Ordinarily, at this time of the year I would be writing about the upcoming summer crop season, which starts in October.

This is an important day in South Africa’s economics calendar. At 11h30 this morning, Statistics South Africa will release the Quarterly Labour Force Survey data for the second quarter of 2020.

South Africa’s 2020/21 summer grain and oilseed planting season should begin in areas with sufficient soil moisture from the end of this week, which will be the start of an optimal planting window in the eastern regions of the country

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.

The Western Cape, which is a major producer of South Africa’s winter crops – wheat, barley and canola – has had favourable rainfall over the past couple of months and the crop in the province is in good shape.

This must be a challenging year for the animal feed companies and by extension the livestock and poultry industry.