Agricultural exports to US still robust in Q2

In a year where trade continues to dominate headlines after the US started imposing higher tariffs against its trading partners, we take a look at SA’s recent agricultural exports data to gauge the early impact of the changing environment.

Encouragingly, the start of 2025 has remained positive for the sector.

After solid export activity in the first quarter of 2025, SA’s agricultural exports totalled $3.71bn (R65.7bn) in Q2, up 10% from the same period a year ago, according to data from Trade Map.

This is again a function of both higher volumes of various product exports and better commodity prices.

The products that dominated the exports list in the second quarter of 2025 were mainly citrus, apples and pears, maize, wine, nuts, fruit juices, dates, pineapples, avocados, grapes, and wool, among other products.

While there remains a need for further improvement in the efficiency of the ports, there has been a material improvement compared to recent years.

Agricultural export activity in the second quarter experienced less friction than in the recent past.

From a regional perspective, the African continent maintained the lion’s share of SA’s agricultural exports in the second quarter of 2025, accounting for 40% of the total value.

The products leading the exports list in the African continent were maize, maize meal, apples and pears, sugar, fruit juices, wheat, wine, soybean oil, and sunflower oil, among other products.

The EU was SA’s second-largest agricultural export market, accounting for a 22% share.

Citrus, apple and pears, dates, pineapples, avocados, guavas, mangos, wine, grapes, and nuts were among the primary agricultural products SA exported to the EU in the second quarter of 2025.

As a collective, Asia and the Middle East were the third-largest agricultural markets, accounting for 21% of the total agricultural exports in the second quarter of 2025.

The exports to this region primarily included citrus, apples and pears, nuts, wool, maize, beef, mutton, wine, berries, and fruit juices, among other products.

The Americas region accounted for 7% of SA’s agricultural exports in the second quarter of the year.

The main exported products include citrus, fruit juices, wine, nuts, apricots, apples, pears, and grapes.

Given ongoing concerns about the higher tariffs SA faces in the US, it is worth highlighting that some exporters may have taken advantage of the 90-day pause of the higher tariffs and exported more volume than usual during that period.

Notably, SA’s agricultural exports to the US surprisingly increased by 26% in the second quarter of 2025, from the same period a year ago, at $161 (R2.8bn).

The composition of the products has not changed; it is mainly citrus wine, fruit juices, and nuts, among other typical agricultural exports to the US.

The fact that SA generally has a large fruit harvest also contributed to this huge increase, which far surpassed the average typical quarterly growth in exports to the US, which is about 9%.

Also worth highlighting is that the rise underscores in a way the importance of the US market for some producers, while it remains somewhat smaller from a national perspective.

SA’s agricultural exports to the US were still 4% in the second quarter of 2025 (which is part of the 7% of exports to the Americas region mentioned above).

Again, the 4% share of the US is not a small value, as a few specific industries are primarily involved in these agricultural exports. These are mainly citrus, grapes, wine, and fruit juices.

From now on, a great deal hinges on whether SA succeeds in securing favourable trade terms with the US.

The rest of the world, including the UK, accounted for 10% of SA’s agricultural exports in the second quarter of 2025.

The country also imports various agricultural products.

In the second quarter of 2025, SA’s agricultural imports totalled $1.81bn (R32bn), a 5% decline year-over-year.

The result is from slightly lower value and volume of major products SA imports, such as wheat, palm oil, poultry, and whiskies.

Subsequently, when accounting for the exports and imports, SA’s agriculture sector recorded a trade surplus of $1.90bn (R33.6bn) in the second quarter of 2025, up 29% from the previous year.

The higher exports and the decline in imports are the major boost to this better trade surplus.

In the current environment of heightened geoeconomic tensions, SA’s export-orientated agricultural sector must work to maintain its current export markets and expand into new ones.