The South African agricultural industry is consistently challenged to increase its competitiveness. The agribusiness supply chain starts with the input sector. The objective of this paper is therefore to determine the competitiveness of the various agricultural input industries in South Africa by using Balassa's method of Revealed Comparative Trade Advantage. This status will then be related to performance of the agricultural industry as a whole. South African manufacturing of farming requisites as a whole are relative marginally competitive in the international arena. However, positive trends in competitiveness is observed. The agricultural machinery industries is not competitive but is improving. The fertilizer industries is becoming increasingly more competitive while in the pesticides industries there is a decrease in the ability to compete internationally. From 1995 there is a relatively high and positive correlation between the competitiveness of the input industry and the agro-food industry in South Africa. This relationship substantiated the claim that fundamentally the South African agricultural economy is more competitive today then a decade ago.