AGFACTS Newsbrief Summary - December 2009

·       The year-on-year value (November) of the nominal effective rand rate of exchange (smoothed) is approximately 18% higher than it was a year ago.

·       The trend in year-on-year price increases of all categories of agricultural machinery is sharply downwards.   The current overall year-on-year increase in price indices (smoothed) is 3.6%.

·       Year-on-year agricultural machinery price changes should continue to decline, at least in the short term.

·       The overall wheat crop is expected to be 1.999 million tons in the 2009 season, 6.2% lower than last season.

·       The “Intentions to Plant” forecast for commercial maize for the 2009/2010 season is 2.572 million hectares, 6.0% up on last year.

·       Year-to-date tractor sales of 5 329 units are 25.1% lower than last year.

·       Overall tractor sales for 2009 (excluding exports) are now expected to be between 5 200 and 5 600 units.