A recent trading update released by Astral Foods, South Africa’s largest poultry trader, said the company's share price devalued between the beginning of the year and Sept.30 due to persistent power cuts.
The poultry producer said South Africa's electricity crisis has disrupted the industry and raised operating costs that have been compounded by additional expenses related to "the worst" bird flu outbreak that has spread at an alarming rate in Gauteng and Mpumalanga.
"The bird flu has already caused short supplies of table eggs into the market, and it is expected that the supply of poultry meat into the value chain could be affected negatively in the coming months," Astral said.
South Africa's energy crisis has cost Astral "approximately 1.9 billion rand" for the financial year — a figure inclusive of 200 million rand in capital costs and 45 million rand per month to run diesel generators.
"This has been the main reason for the sever decline of Astral’s results for the year ending 30 September 2023," the company added.
South Africa's state-owned utility, Eskom, continues to routinely reduce power supply to businesses and households for several hours daily, a process called load shedding locally.
Experts report South Africa's economy continues to be impacted by the energy crisis which they say is a result of ageing coal-fired fleets of power generating plants.
Businesses have had to spend millions on alternative sources of power, such as diesel generators and solar plants. For the poultry sector, erratic electricity supplies affect ventilation systems, slaughter schedules and chicken processing