Fuel prices are expected to decline in February, slightly easing farmers’ and agribusinesses’ input costs, says Agricultural Business Chamber (AgBiz) agricultural economist, Wandile Sihlobo.
He said that the reduction would mainly be driven by the strengthening of the rand, by 6%, in comparison with December 2017 adding that this relief would come during a period characterised by reduced activity at farms and thus lower fuel consumption.
“While there is relatively lower activity in farmlands, agribusinesses – particularly logistics companies – will experience an increase in activity owing to an expected uptick in wheat imports as well as exports of summer grains,” said Sihlobo.
He pointed out that petrol prices could decrease by 38 cents per litre by 7 February, while diesel could fall by 19 cents a litre. He added that higher Brent crude oil prices had somewhat reduced the scale of the potential fuel cost decline.
