Sunflower, Soybean and Soybean Food Forum
Meeting held on 30 January 2024 at the offices of the Oilseeds Industry, 49 River Road, Woodmead and via MS Teams
Opening
Mr Andries Theron opened the meeting with prayer.
Welcome
The Chairperson, Mr Ralf Küsel, welcomed everybody present at the meeting and a special welcome to Mr Marais Cloete from the University of North West who attended his first meeting of the forum.
Attendance
Present
Mr R Küsel Chairperson Mr J Botma OAC Dr E Briedenhann PRF/OAC Mr T Clark RCL Foods Mr M Cloete NWU/ARC/SASRN Mr GP de Beer PRF Contractor Dr J Dreyer PRF Mr G Keun SACCEO PRF/OPDT/OACTA Ms W Louw SAGL Prof F Meyer PRF Mr GL Roos Producer: Mpumalanga Mr A Theron PRF Ms M du Preez PRF Ms A Schoeman PRF Via MS Teams
Mr A Bennett SACTA Ms L Breytenbach AFMA Mr C Cloete Rolfes Agri Mr H Davies Eden Social Development Foundation Mr S de Jager COFCO Mr M Jansen van Rensburg Department Agriculture, Mpumalanga Mr J Kotzé SACOTA Mr W Lemmer Agbiz Grain Dr S Ma'ali ARC-GCI Mr S Mahlangu SACTA Mr J Mathebula Grain SA Ms L Mellett NAMC Ms Y Moshidi JSE Ms I Mothebe DTIC Mr W Oosthuizen Grain SA Mr L Phaleng AFMA Mr C Rasoesoe DTIC Ms S Rudolph RCL Foods Mr L Schoonraad Corteva Mr B Schultz SAGIS Dr D Strydom Grain SA Ms F Sundani NAMC Mr N van Burick Landbouweekblad Mr C van Coller Farmer Ms S van Der Merwe Corteva Dr A van der Vyver SACOTA Mr W van Wyk PRF Contractor Mr J van Zyl BASF Apologies
Mr JD Boshoff Consolidated Agricultural Services Ms AS de Beer ARC-GCI Prof S Lamprecht ARC-PPRI Mr CJ Louw Grain SA Mr P Lovelace CEOCO/SAOPA Mr V Mpumza JSE Dr L Rothmann UFS Ms M Scheepers DALRRD Mr W van Pletsen Agricol Personalia
Dr J Dreyer conveyed his gratitude to the committee for the time that he attended the "The Sunflower and Soybean Forum" meetings.
The Chairman and Mr Keun also thanked Dr J Dreyer for his contribution during the time that he attended the "The Sunflower and Soybean Forum" meetings and for sharing his knowledge with the industry.
The Forum was informed of the passing of Dr Christo Joubert and sincere condolences were conveyed to his family.
Confirmation of the agenda
The Agenda was accepted with no additions.
Approval of minutes
Minutes of a meeting of the Sunflower and Soybean Forum held on 4 October 2023 and referral to the website
Resolution:
- That the minutes of the Sunflower and Soybean Forum held on 4 October 2023 be accepted as a true and fair reflection of that meeting, and that the minutes be referred to the Oilseeds Industry's website for publication.
Ms Du Preez
Steering Committee
OAC
- That the minutes of the Sunflower and Soybean Forum held on 4 October 2023 be accepted as a true and fair reflection of that meeting, and that the minutes be referred to the Oilseeds Industry's website for publication.
Market aspects
Current oil seed prices: local and international
Dr E Briedenhann gave a brief overview and did a presentation on the status of the local and international soybean and sunflower markets, with aspects such as production, prices, demand and supply, amongst others, being covered.
SAGIS
The contents of the latest SAGIS Weekly Bulletin and the latest Monthly Bulletin included in Annexure B were noted. Cognisance was taken that this and other data were published on the SAGIS website.
Mr Schultz gave a short presentation in respect of the SAGIS information.
Request from Grain SA: Weekly information on sunflower and soybean oilcake imports and exports
(Resolutions 7.2.1.1 and 7.2.1.2 of The Sunflower and Soybean Forum of 04/10/2023)
Mr B Schultz mentioned that an application was received regarding the subsequent matter. He also mentioned that SAGIS were busy consulting with the system developers to accommodate the request. It was noted that a formal quote will be submitted to the OAC/OPDT once more information was available.
Mr Keun mentioned that if additional funding was required, SAGIS need to submit an application and quote to the OAC which will be recommended to the OPDT for consideration.
Resolved:
- That feedback regarding the cost to accommodate the request from Grain SA for weekly information on sunflower and soybean oilcake imports and exports, was awaited from SAGIS.
Chairman
Mr Keun
SSF
SAGIS
- That feedback regarding the cost to accommodate the request from Grain SA for weekly information on sunflower and soybean oilcake imports and exports, was awaited from SAGIS.
South African Supply and Demand Estimates Committee (SASDEC)
The latest Supply and Demand Estimates Committee report included in Annexure C was noted.
Ms F Sundani from the NAMC gave a short presentation on the latest supply and demand estimates.
Crop Estimates
The November 2023 and December 2023 Crop Estimates reports included in Annexure D were noted.
No new information was reported.
Value chain aspects
Processing
Dr E Briedenhann mentioned that the oil and protein content for soybeans have remained very stable over the last couple of years but have improved slightly and that yields were also improving.
Prof F Meyer mentioned that overall it was a very good season.
Trading
Dr A van der Vyver mentioned that exports came to a standstill towards the end of 2023 mainly due to prices and climate expectations and South Africa find itself in a position of being uncompetitive. He also mentioned that exports were booked and executed, and the last vessel left from East London towards the end of November 2023. No exports have been scheduled for January or February 2024. Still, the most profitable period is certainly from March to May for soybeans and the South African market is not competitive due to the fluctuation of the soybean prices.
Dr A van der Vyver also mentioned that the Indonesian market was also opened at the end of 2023 in collaboration with Grain SA.
Dr A van der Vyver informed the committee of an application that was submitted for opening the Egyptian market. A delegation from Egypt will be visiting South Africa at the end of February 2024.
Mr W Lemmer referred to the storage operators different storage structures and the competitive nature of the industry.
Storage
Mr W Lemmer mentioned that feedback was received from Agbiz Grain members that a lot of crime was taking place by syndicates in the Mpumalanga area. A Crime Prevention Working Group was established by Agbiz Grain members to try and minimise the crime taking place.
Dispute Resolution Process
(Resolution 8.3.1.1 of The Sunflower and Soybean Forum of 04/10/2023)
Mr W Lemmer mentioned that the investigation by SAGL was completed and the report on the sampling apparatus for the dispute resolution purposes will be evaluated at Agbiz Grain's Steering Committee Meeting taking place on 14 February 2024.
Ms W Louw confirmed that the report of an appropriate sampling apparatus for dispute resolution purposes still needs to be approved by Agbiz Grain and once approved an article will be published by SAGL.
Resolution:
- That it be noted that the investigation by SAGL was completed and the report on the sampling apparatus for the dispute resolution purposes will be evaluated at Agbiz Grain's Steering Committee Meeting taking place on 14 February 2024.
SAGL
Agbiz Grain
SSF
- That it be noted that the investigation by SAGL was completed and the report on the sampling apparatus for the dispute resolution purposes will be evaluated at Agbiz Grain's Steering Committee Meeting taking place on 14 February 2024.
JSE/SAFEX Feedback
Mr V Mpumza gave feedback on information such as individual crushing capacity and stock levels of JSE registered silos that were confidential and not allowed to be disclosed to the market.
Mr V Mpumza also gave feedback about the final location differentials for Soya and provisional location differentials for Sunflower Seeds that will be published on 30 January 2024. It was noted that market participants have until 13 February 2024 to submit any comments.
Resolution:
- That it be noted that market participants have until 13 February 2024 to submit any comments on the final location differentials for Soya and provisional location differentials for Sunflower Seeds which will be published on 30 January 2024.
JSE
SSF
- That it be noted that market participants have until 13 February 2024 to submit any comments on the final location differentials for Soya and provisional location differentials for Sunflower Seeds which will be published on 30 January 2024.
SACTA: Feedback
Mr A Bennett gave feedback on the following:
- Industry Liaison
- Videos of the Annual Information Session held on 1 August 2023 are available at SACTA
- Continuation of Soybean levy
- 1 March 2024 - 28 February 2025 - R92/ton excluding VAT.
- New levy application process underway.
- Levy Collection
- Transformation Feedback
Mr G Roos addressed the concern of the farmers regarding the increase of the Soybean Technology and Breeding Levy.
Mr A Theron and Dr E Briedenhann mentioned that the concern of the increase of the said levy effective 1 March 2024 will be taken up at the next SACTA Strategic meeting.
- Industry Liaison
Consumers of Oil Seeds
No new information was reported.
Passport System
The contents of the document, included in Annexure H, were noted and discussed.
Mr W Lemmer mentioned that Agbiz Grain was not supporting the Generic Passport System because it is a voluntary system and not legally enforced.
Dr D Strydom mentioned that discussions were held regarding the matter and was not supported by industry role players. It was noted that Dr A van der Vyver was now the custodian of the Passport System.
Dr Van der Vyver mentioned that discussions were ongoing and that it will be handled by way of a value chain approach.
Production: Soybeans and Sunflower
Producer Matters
KwaZulu-Natal
General
Mr R Küsel reported that due to the floods in KwaZulu-Natal soybean and maize yields were expected to be average for the current season.
Mpumalanga and Gauteng
General
Mr G Roos reported that for maize it was a very good season thus far and soybeans in the hotter areas had a good season, but the soybeans in the cooler areas were not that good.
North West and Limpopo Province
General
Prof Meyer reported that the North West Province' crops were looking very good as well as the crops that were under irrigation.
Mr G de Beer reported that late planting took place in the west of the North West Province. It only took place in late December 2023 beginning of January 2024.
Free State
General
Mr J Botma reported that 25-30% less soybeans have been planted than the previous years in the North West area and that 10-15% less planting took place in the Northern Free State.
Mr J Botma also reported that more Sunflower was planted. It was noted that Soybean hectares were replaced by Maize.
Eastern and Northern Cape and South Western Districts
General
No new information was reported.
Weed and Weed Resistance
Dr J Dreyer and Mr G Roos mentioned that Palmer amaranth (Amaranthus palmeri) was still a concern.
Soybean value chain
Prof Meyer highlighted a few aspects attended to by the Soybean Value Chain:
- JSE Soybean transport differential;
- The PRF Scenario Planning;
- AFMA tariff application;
- Chemicals – request CropLife to do a presentation; and
- Fertiliser – request Fertasa to do a presentation.
Sunflower value chain
Dr E Briedenhann highlighted a few aspects attended to by the Sunflower Value Chain:
- Improvement of oil contents;
- Planting dates;
- High Oil Cultivars; and
- Separate storage of high-oil seed.
Research
Soybeans
National cultivar trials
Mr G de Beer did a presentation on behalf of Ms A de Beer and gave a brief overview of the National Soybean cultivar trials of the current season.
Soybean rust
Dr J Dreyer mentioned that very little soybean rust was noticed.
Sclerotinia
No new information was reported.
Rhizobium
The contents of the document included in Annexure E, were noted.
Sudden Death Syndrome (SDS)
No new information was reported.
Sunflower
National cultivar trials
Dr S Ma'ali gave a brief overview by way of a presentation of the National Sunflower Cultivar Trials.
Alternaria
No new information was reported.
Sclerotinia
Mr M Cloete mentioned that he was appointed as a Field Technician by the ARC in Potchefstroom and gave some background on his involvement with the ARC/SASRN on the Sclerotinia research they were busy with. He also referred to his M.Sc study on "Pest management strategies aimed at minimizing or eradicating Sclerotinia sclerotiorum infection within sunflower production systems".
Technology transfer
Articles
The contents of the articles, included in Annexure F, were noted.
Information Days 2024
The Chairperson requested that any dates of "Information Days" be forwarded to the Administration for circulation to the SSF members.
Mr M Cloete mentioned that an "Insette Dag" was planned for 6 March 2024 at Delmas.
Videos
The Chairperson requested that educational videos be forwarded to Ms Du Preez for uploading on the website.
Oilseeds Focus
Dr E Briedenhann thanked everyone contributing to the Oilseeds Focus and for making the magazine a success and especially Veeplaas for their continued support.
Yield Competition: Grain SA
The contents of the document, included in Annexure H, were noted.
Additional matters
None.
Dates of meetings for 2024
- 21 May 2024
- 2 October 2024
Adjournment
There being no further business for discussion, the meeting was adjourned.