SA agri products score poorly in global competitiveness league

Fruit and wine the only exceptions RAY SMUTS SEEN from a competitive global perspective, apart from fruit and wine, the export standing of South African agricultural products driven by commodity price and scale is relatively low; what is more, there does not appear to be much chance of improvement. This is the prognosis of a recent competitiveness study of major South African agricultural industries, spearheaded by the National Agricultural Marketing Council. Probing such essential areas as market trends, competitive strategies, main suppliers, their respective market share and the extent of government support in producing areas such as Japan, Brazil, Australia, the US, China and European Union member countries, the study relies on pointers to measure the relative competitiveness and export orientation of such countries. What is clear is that while South Africa is globally competitive in wine and most of its main fruit production areas, including citrus, grapes, pears, apples and avocados, commodities which have over a passage of time been subject to substantially higher levels of market protection and distortion in all major markets – red meat, poultry, maize and sugar included – are less fortunate. The NAMC believes South Africa has to improve its marketing efforts as key markets become less regulated and the intensity of point-of-sale market activity increases.