JSE-listed food manufacturer RCL Foods and sugar industry organisation the South African Sugar Association (SASA) on December 5 launched urgent applications at the Durban High Court to prevent the planned meeting of creditors of troubled agriculture and sugarcane company Tongaat Hulett on December 8. This was revealed by Tongaat's business rescue practitioners (BRPs) in a [...]

The cost of logistics in South Africa has increased significantly in the last eight years to about R800-billion a year at present and accounting for half of all products’ inherent costs. This while the country’s logistics ability is declining.

With more countries to become members of the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (Brics) grouping, the South African agricultural industry will seek to deepen trade with these countries, particularly Saudi Arabia as a $20-billion importer of agricultural produce every year. The European Union and Asia nonetheless remain fundamentally important markets to South Africa’s [...]

Diversified miner Exxaro Resources and South African national science council the Council for Geoscience (CGS) have entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to drive sustainability and decarbonisation efforts. The MoU expresses an intention to collaborate on carbon capture, use and storage (CCUS) initiatives towards the reduction of greenhouse-gas emissions, thereby promoting climate change adaptation [...]

Durban High Court judge Rashid Vahed on December 4 ruled that the Sugar Industry Agreement creates statutory, not contractual, obligations that are not overridden by the business rescue process under the Companies Act. Vahed was hearing sugar miller Tongaat Hulett's application to suspend its payment obligations arising out of the Sugar Industry Agreement.

JSE-listed packaging company Nampak recorded a 2% year-on-year decrease in revenue to R16.6-billion for the financial year ended September 30, while trading profit increased by 2% to R1.6-billion. However, the company suffered a foreign exchange loss of R1.2-billion, while impairment losses of R2.8-billion adversely impacted on profitability and reduced the group's shareholder equity base by 61% to [...]

The intergovernmental International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA’s) director-general, Rafael Mariano Grossi, French President Emmanuel Macron, and Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo have jointly announced that an international summit-level conference on nuclear energy would take place in Brussels, Belgium, this coming March. This summit would be the first ever of its kind. “If you want [...]

The National Nuclear Regulator (NNR) will decide in January whether to grant Eskom’s request for the Koeberg Unit 1 and Unit 2 licences to be separated to reflect a later commercial operation date for Unit 2 to enable the unit’s continued operation beyond July 2024. Should the NNR board refuse Eskom’s request for a decoupling, [...]

The South African Association of Freight Forwarders (SAAFF) says the R47-billion facility guarantee extended to Transnet, as announced by the government on December 1, is welcome as it may indeed activate the recovery of the State-owned entity and, in due course, aid the positioning of an efficient, fully functional multimodal logistics system soon.    Finance Minister [...]

Eskom has confirmed that it has delivered a curtailment framework, as well as its proposed Gated Generator Connection Process (GGCP) to the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) for approval. However, it is not yet clear whether either will be approved ahead of the restart of public procurement for new independent power producer (IPP) [...]

The growth of investment in fresh new greenfield mining projects is lagging badly and the contribution of the South African mining industry to the national economy has more than halved in the last two decades, Minerals Council South Africa’s latest Facts and Figures 2022 point out. Net fixed capital formation figures show a mining industry [...]

JSE-listed food and packaged goods company Tiger Brands increased revenue by 10% to R37.4-billion, driven by price inflation of 11%, favourable foreign exchange gains of 1% and marginal overall volume declines of 2% for the financial year ended September 30. Volume growth in exports was offset by volume declines in the domestic business, primarily attributable [...]