South African potato prices have jumped 15% on average over the past week, data from an industry group showed on Wednesday, after black frost destroyed crops and tightened supplies in Limpopo province, a major producing region.
Potatoes are a major starchy staple in South Africa, alongside maize meal and bread. The country produced 2.4 million tons of potatoes in 2023, making it the third-biggest producer in Africa, after Egypt and Algeria.
Average national prices jumped 15% in the week to 28 August, data from Potatoes SA showed. The average price of 10 kg of potatoes was R85.31 on Wednesday, up from R74.24 a week ago. Sharper price increases were recorded in Nelspruit and Cape Town, where a bag of potatoes is selling for almost R100.
Prices started rising sharply above the seasonal average during the last two weeks of July, according to the data.
Limpopo, one of South Africa’s warmer regions, typically increases its share of supplies to the market from July up to December as output from the Free State region diminishes. It was hit by its worst frost in years, which left widespread crop damage.
The potato price surge comes at a time when South Africa’s food inflation slowed to 3.9% in July, from 4.1% in the previous month, to reach its lowest level since January 2020.
South Africa’s consumer inflation fell to 4.6% year-on-year in July from 5.1% in June, a three-year low.
