Star 2023-07-18

AVI APPEARS locked in dispute with the black economic empowerment (BEE) partner of its fishing products subsidiary I&J Limited after it decided last month to replace its partner of 19 years with a new grouping that is unknown in the fishing sector and which is headed by I&J’s non-executive chairperson Professor Brian Figaji. According to AVI, having been extended in 2012, 2018 and in 2022, the BEE transaction with Mainstreet 198 matured on July 1, 2023, having generated “significant value over 19 years”, including more than R202 million in net cash to Main Street 198. In line with the agreement, AVI exercised their call option and acquired the shares held in I&J from Main Street, upon maturation of the transaction. AVI has now entered into a new agreement with…

PROGRESS to lower global food prices was at risk after Russia announced its exit from the Ukraine grain deal, experts said yesterday. Russia yesterday failed to extend the Black Sea grains deal, brokered by the UN and Turkey in July 2022. The Kremlin said Russia was quitting the pact because its demands to improve its own grain and fertiliser exports had not been met. National Agricultural Marketing Council chief economist Thabile Nkunjana said the failure to extend the grain deal that allowed countries from the Black Sea to export grains was concerning considering how important the grain accord had been in maintaining global food prices. He said the April and May food inflation figures issued by Statistics SA had indicated that food prices in South Africa were beginning to…

ELECTRICITY Minister Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa has warned that boiler tube leaks across all Eskom’s coal-fired power stations continued to be the weakest link in the country’s electricity generation capacity. This comes after Eskom ramped up load shedding to stage 6 last week as demand surged on the back of inclement weather which saw temperatures plummeting to sub-zero levels. Ramokgopa yesterday said though Eskom had been making significant progress to stabilise the grid in the past three weeks, power stations were particularly vulnerable to boiler tube leaks, which cause unplanned outages for generation units. “That’s the persistent failure that we are experiencing across all the power stations. It’s an area of technical shortfall that requires all of our attention. It has to do sometimes with the quality of coal,” Ramokgopa…

Group CEO Portia Derby says the partnership with ICTSI will help reposition the terminal TRANSNET has announced a Philip- pines-based independent terminal operator as partner for upgrade of its flagship Durban container terminal as the group expands private partici- pation in the freight rail sector in a bid to increase competition, boost efficiency and reliability and reduce costs for customers. The State-owned freight, rail and logistics group yesterday announced International Container Terminal Services Inc (ICTSI) as the preferred bidder for the 25-year joint venture venture with Transnet Port Terminals to develop and manage the Durban Container Terminal 2 Pier. DCT Pier 2 is Transnet’s biggest container terminal, handling 72% of the Port of Durban’s throughput and 46% of South Africa’s port traffic. The finalisation of the process follows approvals from…

ESKOM and its former chief operating officer, Jan Oberholzer, would part ways by mutual agreement, it was announced by the power utility yesterday. The move came as a surprise and was announced late in the day. Oberholzer’s last day with Eskom will be July 31. Oberholzer was on a fixed-term contract to provide support to the Koeberg Nuclear Power Station long-term operation and Kusile Power Station projects. “Eskom expresses gratitude to Mr Jan Oberholzer for his dedicated service, expertise and valuable contributions during his tenure. We wish him well in his future endeavours, ” it said. | BR Reporter…

ASPEN Pharmacare had a strong base business valued lowly by the market as well as significant in-demand unutilised excess sterile manufacturing capacity that the market was placing little to no value on, Mergence Investment Management said. The investment firm said in a research note they “remain patient and confident” in the long-term investment case and expect strong earnings growth resuming in the 2024 financial year. JSE data showed the share price increased 0.5% on Friday to R182.66, bringing its increase year-to-date to 33.9%, well outstripping the 6.44% rise in the JSE All Share Index over the same period. “While the share’s recent out-performance indicates the market is giving them some credit, we think there is more out-performance to come as they execute their plans on filling the spare capacity,” Mergence…