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South Africa has announced plans to transfer numerous governmental functions including agricultural inspections to the new Border Management Agency which currently falls under Home Affairs.

Post forecasts that chicken meat production will increase by two percent in 2023 as a result of economic recovery, normalization of feed costs, and increased investment by the industry due to anticipated high revenue from market year 2022.

Post forecasts Burmese rice exports higher in September with increasing demand for Burmese rice due to India’s policies restricting rice exports. Despite larger domestic rice supplies from the new rice crop, domestic prices for both Emata and Shwe Bo Pawsan rose significantly. The depreciation of the Myanmar kyat and high production costs have continued putting upward pressure on domestic rice prices.

Post forecasts Burmese rice exports lower in August due to fewer supplies in the domestic market, higher domestic prices, lower anticipated production, and changes to foreign currency policies. Domestic prices for both Emata and Shwe Bo Pawsan rose significantly.

This report reflects updates on the Food law in Section I, Food Labeling in Section II, and import procedures Section IX.

This report lists the major certificates required by Burmese government agencies for U.S. agricultural products exported to Burma. The list of certificates primarily focuses on major U.S. agricultural exports to Burma, such as soybeans and soybean meal, wheat products, distillers dried grains with solubles, meat and poultry products, fruits and vegetables, other grocery items, and seeds.

South Africa has suspended anti-dumping duties on poultry from Brazil, Denmark, Ireland, Poland, and Spain for a period of twelve months, but the duties remain in place for U.S. poultry.

South Africa’s annual consumer price index inflation rate surged to a 13-year high of 7.4 percent in June 2022, driven mainly by a rise in food and fuel prices.

The enormous restraint on electricity generation and resulting power outages, locally known as load shedding, is emerging as a significant threat to South African agriculture. The cumulative hours of load shedding in the first seven months of 2022 already exceeds the annual record set in 2021.

Post forecasts Burmese rice exports lower in July due to reduced domestic supplies and higher domestic prices. Domestic prices for Emata remained high, while prices for Shwe Bo Pawsan rose due to lower domestic supplies.

The sharp upsurge in the cost of farming inputs for corn farmers in South Africa intensified the risk of production in a weather dependent industry, despite record-high commodity prices. As a result, Post forecasts that South Africa’s corn area will stay flat in marketing year 2022/23. However, South Africa should maintain its status as a net exporter of corn under normal weather conditions.

The South African retail food sector is well-developed and continues to expand into other African countries. In 2021, South African retail food sales totaled $40 billion, a 0.2 percent increase from 2020 as the South African economy began to recover from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.