South African agricultural exports rose 3% to a record $13.7 billion last year led by shipments of citrus fruit and grapes, an industry body said.
The increase is the sixth consecutive annual expansion of the sector’s export trade as the country seeks to open up new markets for its produce, a report released on Monday by the Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa showed.
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Other African countries accounted for 44% of the trade, Asia and the Middle East 21% and the European Union 19%, the organisation known as Agbiz said. The US received 4% of shipments.
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Still, agricultural imports jumped 8% to $7.6 billion because of higher prices of some of the commodities it brings into the country such as wheat, palm oil and rice, the group said. That meant the agricultural trade surplus shrank 2% to $6.2 billion from the year earlier.
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