BL Premium reports that an agribusiness lobby group on Monday called on the government to suspend fuel levies while the Ukraine-Russia crisis persists to help contain food prices.

Russia is the world’s third-largest producer of oil and the removal of its supply from global trade has lifted the Brent crude oil benchmark price considerably. The lift in oil prices (from post-lockdown pent-up demand and supply shortages) has raised local fuel prices significantly. Diesel is an important input in the agricultural sector, which is a key driver of growth in SA and contributes 12.2% to GDP. With the recent and still expected fuel price increases, the cost of briging food to SA consumers will rise substantially in the coming months unless the government acts to contain these likely increases. Agri SA, the biggest federation of agricultural organisations in Southern Africa, on Monday said the Ukraine-Russia crisis will have a serious effect on SA’s food security and present a major risk to parts of the agricultural sector. Agri SA chief economist Kulani Siweya said with global wheat prices and agricultural input costs skyrocketing, the SA government must take urgent action and suspend the fuel levies to provide relief for farmers, “especially the nation’s small-scale farmers”, to help contain food prices for consumers. Ukraine and Russia are both major producers of wheat, accounting for a quarter of global exports, and the disruption to the supply of this staple food will cause food price shocks globally and in SA, which imports 30% of its total wheat requirement from these two countries. In addition, Russia is the leading supplier of fertiliser globally.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Thuletho Zwane at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)
• Lees ook, Skort brandstofheffing op – Agri SA, by Maroela Media

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