South Africa is self-sufficient in terms of potato production; this is attested by low potato imports by South Africa. During 2018, South Africa’s potato imports still represent 0% of world imports for potatoes and its ranking in the world is 181. There was a notable change in South Africa potato imports ranking as they were ranked number 187 in 2017. In 2010, South Africa imported potatoes from Namibia and Eswatini. During 2011, Zambia was the sole supplier of potato imported from by South Africa. In 2012, South Africa imported potatoes from Ghana. In 2013, South Africa imported 70.1% of potatoes from Swaziland, 22.1% from Namibia and 2.6% from Botswana. During 2014, South Africa has sourced potatoes from Swaziland (70.8%), Namibia (25%) and Botswana (3.3%).
In 2015, South Africa has imported insignificant 2.72 tons of potatoes. During 2016, South Africa potato import surged to 273 tons compared to 2.72 tons in 2015 and this can be attested to 13.7%
decline in the domestic production output. In 2017, South Africa has imported potatoes from Swaziland, India and Lesotho. Import from Swaziland has decreased by 62 in value and 40 in quantity between 2013 and 2016 period. As of 2018, Namibia has supplied 69% of South Africa potato imports and Eswatini has supplied 31% of imports.
Source: Quantec Easydata
0 200000 400000 600000 800000 1000000 1200000 1400000 1600000
0 100 200 300 400 500 600
Value (Rand)
Volume (tons)
Years
Figure 22: Potato imports by South Africa
Volume (tons) Value (Rand)
32 Figure 22 above illustrates South Africa’s potato imports in a period of 10 years. In 2009, potato import was just above 53 tons and a record low in a ten year period, despite the low domestic production output in the same year. During 2011, potato import has increased by 10% despite a 5%
increase in the domestic output. In 2012, South Africa potato imports increased by 81% despite a 2.5% increase in the domestic production output. It was more expensive to import potatoes in 2007, since high values were recorded for lower volumes imported. It was cheaper to import potatoes during 2012. During 2013, South Africa potato imports surged by 144% and this can be ascribed to 3% decline in potato output in the same year. South Africa paid lower value for 2013 potato imports in comparison to 2012 import value. South Africa’s potato import volume has dropped by 25% in 2014 in comparison to 2013. It was also cheaper to import potatoes when compared to 2013 imports.
In 2015, South Africa potato import has sharply dropped from 357 tons to 2.72 tons, and it was fairly cheaper to import potatoes when compared to 2014 export value. During 2016, South Africa’s potato imports surged to 272 tons and this can be attributed to 13.7% decline in the domestic potato production output during the same year. It was relatively more expensive to import potatoes in comparison to the other years. In 2017, South Africa potato imports have dropped drastically by 77%
relative to 2016 import volume. It was also more expensive to import potatoes relative to 2016 import value. As of 2018, South Africa potato imports surged by 139% in comparison to 2017 imports.
During the same season, it was relatively cheaper to import potatoes relative to the previous year imports.
Source: Quantec Easydata
Figure 23 above shows South Africa’s potato seed imports in the period of 10 years. According to Potato Certification Service, it was not permitted for South African farmers to import potato seeds, however Trade Map has trade data on South Africa’s potato seed imports. South Africa’s potato seed imports are generally low, because South Africa is self-sufficient in producing its own potato seeds.
However, in 2011, South Africa’s potato seed imports surged higher when compared to other years.
In 2010, South Africa imported seeds from Germany and Netherlands. During 2013, South Africa’s seed imports represented 0% of world imports and it is ranked number 142. In 2011, South African seed imports were sourced from Zimbabwe and Netherlands. During 2012, South Africa imported
0 500000 1000000 1500000 2000000 2500000 3000000 3500000 4000000 4500000
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Figure 23: Potato seeds imports by South Africa
Volume (tons) Value (Rand)
33 potato seeds from the Netherlands, Germany and Japan. Netherlands supplied 54.5% and the United States of America supplied 45.5% of South Africa’s potato seed imports in 2013. South Africa has imported 5 tons of potato seeds during 2014. As of 2015, South Africa’s potato has surged to 76% and the imports were cheaper when compared to 2014 imports. Netherlands with 77.1% share is the leading supplier of South Africa’s potato seeds, followed by China with 14.3%. In 2016, South Africa, potato seed imports surged to 407 tons when compared to 76 tons imported in 2015.
Netherlands supplied 88.2% of the potato seed imports, whilst Germany supplied 10.7% of the imports. During 2017, South Africa’s potato seed imports dropped by 60.5% relative to 2016 imports.
As of 2018, South Africa’s potato seed imports were incomparably lower relative to 2017 and high value was recorded for the imported seeds. France and Germany were the primary supplier of South Africa’s potato seed. Globally, Egypt, Algeria, Belgium, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Morocco and Italy were still the top countries importing potato seeds during 2017. As of 2018, South Africa potato seed imports represent 0% of the world seed imports and it was ranked 146. The 2018 seed imports originated from United Kingdom (85.7%) and United States of America (14.3%).
Source: Quantec Easydata
Figure 24 above, illustrates South Africa’s provincial potato imports in a ten year period. South Africa imported potato primarily through Gauteng province. Free State province has recorded an import value during 2010, but the value was insignificant. KwaZulu Natal province has imported potatoes in 2008 and 2009, however the import values were less significant. High import value for Gauteng was recorded in 2013. In 2014, high import values were registered for KwaZulu Natal and Mpumalanga however Gauteng import value has drastically dropped in comparison to 2013 import value. In 2015, South Africa has imported potatoes mainly through Mpumalanga and Free State. Other provinces have recorded trivial values. In 2016, South Africa’s imported potatoes mainly through Western Cape, notable import values have also been recorded for Gauteng and Limpopo. During 2017, Gauteng province was the primary entry point for South Africa’s potato imports. KwaZulu Natal import
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 Western Cape 0 0 0 83160 331592 322044 195 1433796 2077 261421
Free State 0 83 0 0 8829 3861 2000 4648 10808 0
KwaZulu-Natal 4120 0 0 0 104885 351000 12 0 96800 124850
Gauteng 131369 264879 227875 362949 939264 51752 167 32822 297940 2069
Mpumalanga 0 0 0 0 102000 574262 4940 0 7200 10150
North West 0 0 0 0 0 0 28 0 0
Limpopo 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 21360 0 0
0 200000 400000 600000 800000 1000000 1200000 1400000 1600000
Value (Rand)
Years
Figure 24: South Africa's provincial potato imports
34 has also recorded a notable import value. As of 2018, Western Cape was the primary entry point of South Africa’s potato imports, followed by KwaZulu Natal. These two provinces borders Namibia and Eswatini, which were the primary source of South Africa potato imports.
Figure 25 below illustrates the value of South Africa’s provincial potato seed imports from 2009 to 2018.
Source: Quantec Easydata
Figure 25 shows the value of South Africa’s potato seed imports in a ten year period. South Africa potato seeds were mainly imported through Gauteng and Western Cape provinces. In 2009, high import value was recorded for Northern Cape province. High import value for Gauteng was recorded in 2010, 2011 and 2013. Western Cape has recorded a high seed import value during 2013. Seed import values for North West and KwaZulu Natal were insignificant. During 2014, seed import value was recorded only in Free State province, but the import value was less significant. A notable import value was recorded for KwaZulu Natal and Gauteng provinces during 2015. At the same time, Western Cape import value was less significant. In 2016, a higher potato seed import value was recorded for KwaZulu Natal, whereas there was a sharp decline in Gauteng potato seed import value.
During 2017, Gauteng province was the primary entry point for South Africa’s potato seed import and Western Cape import value was less significant. As of 2018, Western Cape and Gauteng were the entry point for South Africa’s potato seed import.
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 Western Cape 12659 10960 8625 25407 38064 0 16822 0 30275 78007
Northern Cape 32823 0 10087 5250 19535 0 0 0 0 0
Free State 0 0 0 0 0 1850 0 0 0 0
KwaZulu-Natal 0 0 0 0 269 0 330291 3966670 0 0
North West 0 248 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Gauteng 250 73461 53896 9077 48587 0 81204 15177 1562959 18173
5000000 1000000 1500000 2000000 2500000 3000000 3500000 4000000 4500000
Value (Rand)
Years
Figure 25: Value of South Africa's potato seed imports
35 2.5 Processing
Apart from being consumed fresh, potatoes are processed into a number of products. According to Potatoes South Africa, 20% of South Africa’s total table potatoes production was processed in 2016.
The industry development comes mainly from frozen fries, dry crisp and fresh chips. The manufacturing of dry, frozen and fresh chips comprise 98% of processed potato products while the remaining 2% was used for canned and mixed vegetables. As depicted in Figure 27, the quantity of potatoes taken in for processing has been stable in the past decade. In 2009, there was a 3.5%
increase in quantity taken for processing. This growth was mainly due to the expansion in the fast- food industry; the higher average income of the population, rapid rate of urbanization and the influx of international processing companies. A major shift in the value of processed potatoes was a 60%
increase in 2009.
In 2010, processed volumes increased by 9.9%, while the value of processed potatoes increased by 7.5%. There was a 5.6% drop in potatoes volumes that were processed during 2011. In 2012, the processed volume dropped by 3.6% when compared to 2011 processed potatoes. During 2013, volumes that were processed declined further by 4.3% and the value of processed potatoes has dropped by 15% when compared to 2012. There was a 14% increase in the volumes that were processed during 2014 in comparison to the previous year. In 2015, processed volume went up by 11% in comparison to 2014 processed volume and at the same time the value of processed potatoes has also increased by 11.5%. During 2016, a processed potato dropped by 14% in comparison to 2015 processed volume and the processed value has increased by 12%. South Africa has processed 15% more potato volumes relative to 2016 processed volume and the processed value have dropped slightly by 6.7%. There was a 0.69% increment in processed potatoes and the value of processed potatoes has increased notably by 19.7% relative to 2017 value.
Source: Statistics, and Economic Analysis, DAFF
0
200000000 400000000 600000000 800000000 1000000000 1200000000 1400000000 1600000000
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RandTons
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Figure 26: Total processed potatoes
Volume (Tons) Value (Rands)
36 3. MARKET INTELIGENCE