Johannesburg/London — Chinese steel and Mexican-made cars became political dynamite last year as politicians, including US President Donald Trump, championed anti-free trade rhetoric. Now chickens are at the centre of a bitter fight between SA and Europe. "If things stay the same, there will be no chicken industry in a year’s time," Scott Pitman, he MD of RCL’s consumer division, said by phone. Shares of RCL, which produces several food brands other than chicken, are 35% below a 20-year high of R19.45 in 2014. Chicken demand "The market is looking forward and anticipating lower feed costs" as SA’s two-year drought eased, said Victor Dima, a Dubai-based analyst at Arqaam Capital. Chickens in SA are fed maize among other foodstuff. SA is the world’s fifth-biggest consumer of chicken per capita behind the US, Australia, Brazil and Peru, according to the International Poultry Council. The EU says its chicken exports comply with trade laws and there is no reason for SA to impose duties a...
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