Farmers in South Africa are heading into the winter planting season with surging diesel prices and tightening supplies — triggered by the Middle East conflict — threatening production in sub-Saharan Africa’s largest commercial wheat-growing industry.
For Rossouw Dippenaar, who farms near Riebeek-West about 80 kilometers (50 miles) northeast of Cape Town, time is running out. He needs as much as 40 000 liters (10 564 gallons) of diesel to plant his wheat, but has only secured about 6 000 liters because some retailers are limiting purchases in a bid to prevent a run on their stocks.
“I don’t know what I will do if it doesn’t change in the next two weeks,” he said. “I’m living in hope that it will get better.”
A five-day halt to US strikes on Iranian energy infrastructure announced by President Donald Trump on Monday eased global oil prices. But there’s little sign that trade
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