Commodity Insight Africa (CIAfrica) was established in 2006 when an unfulfilled need for up-to-date, reliable and relevant information on soft commodities was identified in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Since then a vast network of contacts has been established in countries in the region providing up-to-date relevant information to make it possible to deliver a consistent and trustworthy information service in this niche market. We have a dynamic enthusiastic team of three employees. Two are involved on the data information side and the third covers finance and administration.
The agricultural sector plays a dominant role in the economies of most, if not all, Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) countries. Despite its importance, the sector is mostly fragmented in most countries and dominated by smallholder farmers. This makes production erratic mainly as a result of inadequate inputs, poor farming methods, poor handling and insufficient storage facilities. Add unpredictable weather patterns, politics and poor logistics to this mix and it becomes a complex market which is challenging to understand.
Commodity Insight Africa (CIAfrica) is an independent information business focusing on
commodities (soft and hard commodities) in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). It is based in
Johannesburg South Africa. Our objective is to keep our clients well informed on the SSA
market to put them in a position to make knowledgeable decisions. In particular, we endeavor to minimize our clients’ pricing risk in an environment where, in most cases, no formal pricing mechanism such as exchanges exists.
We have recently entered into an arrangement with Bloomberg and Thomson Reuters to
make our information available on their information platforms.
We have established a sound network of contacts across SSA during the past 18 years and continue to build this network to enhance and confirm the reliability of the information we provide. We attempt to get as many as possible sources in each country. We further
endeavour to get sources in both the buying and selling side of the market to improve
reliability.
We believe the experience we have gathered over many years provides us with a good
understanding of commodity price correlation between neighbouring countries, export
destinations and import origins, given certain circumstances. This adds to the quality and
reliability of our products.
Our database includes historic prices on commodities as far back as 2005 in some cases. These are extremely helpful when studying seasonal price patterns, price volatility, price responses to certain factors impacting markets, etc. Historical production and consumption trends, given specific circumstances, could also provide some insight in potential future trends.
Our client base mainly consists of banks, investment funds, traders, brewers, aid
organisations and importers/exporters.
We mainly service the trade finance divisions of our bank and investment fund clients. They
use our price discovery service to mark to market (value) the commodities they are financing and to make margin calls when necessary. They also use our weekly fundamental report to get a better understanding of the environment where they are funding.
We support several businesses spread across Africa, Europe, Asia, the US and the Middle East. Amongst our clients are Standard Bank (South Africa), Rand Merchant Bank (South Africa), Nedbank (South Africa), ABSA Bank (South Africa), Rabobank (Netherlands), Deutsche Bank (Germany), Standard Chartered Bank (Singapore), Citibank (US), AB InBev
(Belgium), the World Food Program (Italy), the Gates Foundation (US), the Clinton
Foundation (US), Cargill (US), Louis Dreyfus (Netherlands), Cofco Intl (Switzerland), Bunge (US), Ameropa (Switzerland), Viterra (Netherlands).
Consumption patterns in most cases are a function of availability and affordability. When prices increase, consumers normally consume less and substitute with other more affordable products, if available, or just eat less. It is important to grasp these consumption patterns as they could have a material impact on demand.
Politics do play an important role in the Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) food industry through import/export bans’, import levies, purchasing for strategic reserves, etc. It is especially important to monitor the staple food market (white maize in most central and east African countries) in the run-up to an election as the reigning governments of some countries tend to get involved for obvious reasons.
During the last 20 months, we have added hard commodities to our Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) coverage. Coverage thus far includes South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, DRC and Mozambique. Commodities covered are copper, iron ore, coal, manganese and chrome.
