Market Prospects for Groundnut in West Africa COMMON FUND ...

3.7 South Africa
Accounting for 2.2% of shelled groundnut exports over the past decade, South
African groundnut is considered to be among the best quality in the world, and
is commonly priced on a par with Argentina, ranging from $600 to as high as
$870 per ton.
A very high domestic demand also tends to float South African
groundnut prices, a factor discussed further under Section 4.4. South African
groundnut is prominent on the European market, and has recently gained a
reasonable foothold on the US market as well.
However, overall quality of South African groundnut has slipped a bit in
recent years, as the uniformity of varieties present in any given lot is not as
assured as it was previously. This decline in consistency is blamed on the
recent introduction of machine grading technologies, as opposed to the former
reliance on hand-picked and selected (HPS) lots.
The production and marketing of South African groundnuts is facilitated
by a well-organized network comprising producer cooperatives, trade
associations and other private sector stakeholders, including Groundnut
International and Safrinut. The quality of the South African groundnut crop is
certified by the Perishable Products Export Control Board (PPECB), a
parastatal body with great international credibility within the groundnut
sector.
Aflatoxin can be a problem, however, particularly in the drier production
areas. The South African groundnut crop has been devastated by aflatoxin
contamination twice in recent years – in 1999 and again in 2002. In spite of
this, South Africa is still considered a reliable supplier of groundnut on the
international market, largely due to the reliability of the pre-shipment
inspection services of the PPECB, to the quality control activities of its
(European-certified) shelling plants, and to the active and reliable monitoring
of crop conditions by commercial bodies such as Safrinut and Groundnut
International.
According to Dutch importers, over half of the 2002 South African
groundnut crop has been estimated to be contaminated with aflatoxin above
EU standards.
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