According to the April 24th edition of USAPEEC Monday Line the International Trade Administration Commission of the Republic of South Africa has yet to make a decision on anti-dumping duties on frozen bone-in chicken portions. Currently the anti-dumping duty is 26 cents per lb. It is proposed to increase the duty three-fold to 76c/lb. This calculation is based on a current exchange rate of 18 Rand to the U.S. dollar.
In accordance with the African Growth and Opportunity Act, the U.S. negotiated a tariff rate quota amounting to 71,290 metric tons in 2022. In this year, the quota was filled with 79,222 metric tons valued at $59.9 million at a unit value of $756 per metric ton. In 2021, the U.S. exported 88,798 metric tons to South Africa valued at $76.7 million with a unit price of $863 per metric ton.
According to The Economist South Africa posted a 0.9 percent increase in GDP for the fourth quarter of 2022. Consumer prices during February were up 7.3 percent from the corresponding month in 2022. The official unemployment rate is 32.7 percent but the de facto unemployment rate may range to as high as 50 percent of the population. Official ten-year government bond interest rate is 9.9 percent up 26 percent from a year ago. The South African Rand has lost 21 percent of its value against the US dollar in the past 12 months making our bone-in product progressively more expensive. The perilous economic situation in South Africa is attributed to gross mismanagement and corruption, leading to a virtual collapse of electrical generation, road maintenance and transport including operation of harbors and rail transport that are still under government control.