Agribusiness confidence soars amid strong exports and growth

The agricultural sector has continued to show resilience, according to the Agbiz/IDC Agribusiness Confidence Index (ACI) report. This indicated an increase of 11 points from the first quarter of 2024 to 70 in the first quarter of 2025. The report, released earlier today, stated that this is the third consecutive improvement, placing the ACI at its highest since the fourth quarter of 2021.

Agbiz senior economist Wandile Sihlobo said the current level of the ACI implies that South African agribusinesses remain optimistic about business conditions in the country.

“This optimism is a result of a combination of factors, including La Niña rains that support the 2024-25 agricultural season, improvements in port efficiency that supported exports in 2024, and the progress in controlling animal diseases.

“The turnover subindex confidence is up 14 points from Q4 2024 to 60 in Q1 2025. We observed most optimism in agribusinesses operating in fruits and winter crops, while others maintained a generally unchanged view from the previous quarter,” he said.

Sihlobo explained that the employment subindex rebounded 13 points from Q4 2024 to 55 in Q1 2025, which showed that the sector was recovering from drought and animal diseases.

Agriculture on the right path

“The volume of export sentiment increased significantly by 17 points to 100 in Q1 2025. This reflects the activity as South Africa’s agricultural exports reached a record US$13.7 billion in 2024.

“The general economic conditions subindex lifted 3 points to 65 in Q1 2025. This recovery in the mood about the economic conditions could be due to the expected effects of the overall implementation of Operation Vulindlela,” he said.

According to Sihlobo, overall the ACI results for the first quarter of 2025 show that the mood in the sector is upbeat, reflective of the recovery in agriculture following a challenging season of drought and animal diseases.

“It is heartening to see that the geopolitical tensions haven’t weighed on the sector heavily. We should build on this optimism for the sector’s long-term growth.

“An effort to keep the sector on the positive path requires collaborative efforts between business and government on pushing for the effectiveness of the network industries, better management of the municipalities, further efforts to open new export markets, and the implementation of the Agriculture and Agro-processing Master Plan,” he said.

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