A landmark deal has been signed between South Africa and Saudi Arabia, which will see the country export beef — among other red meat products — to Saudi Arabia from as early as next year.
The announcement was made on Monday, after South African president Ramaphosa’s state visit to the nation, along with agriculture, land reform and rural development minister Thoko Didiza and others, as part of an investment drive.
“We expect the deal to see Saudi Arabia order between 500 to 1,000 tonnes of beef per year, which would make it one of the largest beef export markets to date for SA. We congratulate government for their swift action on opening this market for the country,” said Louw van Reenen, CEO of Beefmaster Group.
Beefmaster is a leading supplier of beef products to local and international markets. The company’s representative accompanied the South African delegation to Saudi Arabia as a guest of the government.
Van Reenen said the deal was extremely positive for the local beef sector, especially given the many challenges the industry has faced this year after outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease, as well as against an uncertain economic backdrop.
We are very excited about the deal, and it could not have come at a better time. Besides unlocking new trade, it will also help us maintain job security in the sector over the next year,” Van Reenen.
Beefmaster already exports products to other nations in the region, including the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar.
Van Reenen said there was, however, still some work to be done before trade can officially commence between the two nations.
“The Saudi food and drug authority will be visiting South African producers to ensure products conform to their strict specifications. We are looking forward to hosting delegates at our facilities in Kimberley and Christiana before the end of 2022,” says van Reenen.
Van Reenen said there was already a presence of South African produce and well-known brands on the shelves in Saudi Arabia, and because the nation was a water-scarce country, there in an opportunity for food producers to export their fresh products to the Arabian peninsula nation.
Total bilateral trade between the two countries amounted to R66bn in 2021.
According to the South African Red Meat Producers’ Organisation, SA exports 4% of its beef production.
