Cape Times 2022-07-19

GLOBAL oil prices started climbing yesterday, reversing last week’s losses as investors grappled with ongoing supply tightness which could also spell further hardship for South African motorists at the pumps next month. The price of Brent crude oil rose above the $100-mark (R1 705.37) per barrel again yesterday, on global supply concerns after US President Joe Biden’s visit to Saudi Arabia failed to yield any pledge from Arab leaders to boost production further. Saudi ministers insisted that policy decisions would be based on market dynamics and according to the Opec+ meeting next month. The Opec+ cartel last month agreed to raise output by 648 000 barrels a day in both July and August, slowly returning the nearly 10 million barrels a day it agreed to pull from the…

US-BASED insurance and investment group Prudential Financial has made Alexforbes’s minority shareholders an offer of R5.05 a share to help lift its stake in the local financial services group to up to 33 percent. Alexforbes’ share price was 5 percent higher at R4.52 yesterday afternoon. The deal, valued at around R1.9 billion at Alexforbes’ market capitalisation yesterday, will see Prudential becoming the second biggest shareholder of Alexforbes. African Rainbow Capital, which owns a 41.47 percent stake in Alexforbes, said it would not take part in Prudential’s “partial offer” to shareholders. Shareholders who own 100 Alexforbes shares or less can sell all of their shares to Prudential at the offer price. Those who hold more than 100 shares can sell 100 shares plus 45.2 percent of…

SOUTH Africa’s tourism industry looks set on the road to recovery as the income derived from accommodation rose markedly in May on the back of easing restrictions a month earlier. However, economists have warned that the industry remains under severe income pressure, and still well below 2019 levels due to prevailing economic headwinds that may prevent its “full recovery”. Data from Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) yesterday showed that total income for the tourist accommodation industry increased by 86.6 percent in May year-on-year. Stats SA said income from accommodation rose by 61.6 percent in May from a year ago, led by the surge in hotel stays. Hotels recorded an occupancy rate of 34.7 percent in May, an increase to the reading in April of 33.8 percent…

GLOBAL agriculture needs to keep a close eye on extreme weather events, such as the heatwave knocking various countries in the northern hemisphere, according to Agricultural Business Chamber (Agbiz) chief economist Wandile Sihlobo. Over the past weeks and months, the US, parts of Europe, and China have all reported cases of heatwaves. “There are growing concerns that the heat could negatively impact the summer grains, which are still in the early growing stages in these regions. “The livestock industry is equally anxious the extreme heat could lead to increasing animal deaths. For example, in June 2022, more than 2 000 cattle died of heat stress in south-western Kansas.” These challenging weather events came at a time when the world was in a food crisis and needed to improve agricultural…

THE DEPARTMENT of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD), after remaining mum on the unilateral regulatory European Commission (EC) phytosanitary measures that will knock South African citrus exports, yesterday finally broke its silence. The DALRRD said yesterday that South Africa viewed the current implementation of the regulation as not only trade restrictive, but technically unjustified. Both the Citrus Growers Association of South Africa and Agri Business Chamber earlier this month decried the measures, warning that the clearance of hundreds of containers of southern African oranges that are already being shipped was uncertain due to “unjustified, scientifically flawed, unnecessary and disproportionate” EU regulatory measures. They said the EU had recently imposed protectionist measures on agriculture by changing its regulations on plant safety for citrus without notifying its trading partners within…

Lord Peter Hain, a staunch advocate for action against State capture-tainted Bain & Company, is set to address the UK Parliament this week. Hain wants the British government to freeze all contracts with the US management consulting firm and for it to be held accountable for its role in State capture in South Africa. Whistle-blower Athol Williams confirmed yesterday that the UK’s Cabinet Office was continuing with the investigations into the disgraced group. This as the UK government is caught in the cross-hairs of a crisis of confidence in Prime Minister Boris Johnson, which led to his resignation this month under heavy pressure from lawmakers in his own Conservative Party. Johnson in February said the UK Cabinet Office would “look into” consultancy Bain & Company “with urgency”, following an appeal…