The Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa (Agbiz) said that South Africa should also position itself among the key suppliers of agricultural products to China in addition to its current export activity.
Wandile Sihlobo, chief economist at the Agricultural Business Chamber of SA (Agbiz), said that he sometimes doubts if South Africans appreciate enough how big China is in global agricultural trade. “We keep discussing it. China is a dominant player in the export and import of agricultural products. China was a leading agricultural importer in 2023, accounting for 11% of global agricultural imports, totalling over $200 billion (R 3 Trillion). The US, Germany, the Netherlands, the UK, France, and Japan trailed China.
Sihlobo added that China played a notable role in exports. “In 2023, it was the fifth-largest agricultural exporter in the world. The leading countries ahead of China were the US, Brazil, the Netherlands, and Germany. Few African countries benefit from these imports due to low agricultural productivity in Africa. Most don't have volumes to export.”
Sihlobo said that the leading suppliers of agricultural products to China are Brazil, the US, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Canada, Vietnam, France, Russia, Argentina, Chile, Ukraine, the Netherlands, and Malaysia.
Sihlobo added that the only African country in China's top 30 agricultural suppliers is South Africa, which ranked 28 in 2023. “South Africa remains a negligible player in the Chinese agricultural market, accounting for a mere 0.4% ($979 million) (R 18 Billion) of China's agricultural imports.”
Sihlobo said that given this reality and China's efforts to diversify its agricultural suppliers, it is key that the South African message in engagements with the Chinese authorities should be more firm and persuasive in promoting agricultural exports.
“South Africa has an agricultural surplus each year, exporting about half of its yearly production. In 2023, South Africa's agricultural exports amounted to a record $13.2 billion (R 239 Billion). Indeed, this is nowhere close to the amount of money China spends annually importing agricultural products from the world, a staggering $218 billion (R 3 Trillion),” added Sihlobo.
Sihlobo said that China is already one of South Africa's major agricultural markets for a variety of fruits, wine, red meat, nuts, maize, soybeans, and wool. “However, there is room for more ambitious agricultural export efforts. The South African agricultural sector—organised agriculture and researchers—consistently points out the need to lower import tariffs in China and remove phytosanitary constraints on various products. From now on, this should be a topic of conversation in engagements with Chinese authorities.”
BUSINESS REPORT