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30 Sep 2011

The South African Revenue Service (SARS) today releases trade statistics for August 2011 that record a trade deficit of R3.7 billion.

Summary:

The trade deficit for August 2011 is R3.7 billion (Deficit of R4.8 billion in August 2010) compared to a deficit of R3.9 billion in July 2011, a month to month decrease of R0.2b.  The deficit was due to an increase in exports of R4.5b (8.0%) to R61.0b and an increase in imports of R4.3b (7.2%) to R64.7b. 
 
The trade deficit of R3.7 billion in August 2011 was mainly due to increased exports of chemical or allied industries and precious and semi-precious stones and increased imports of machinery and electrical appliances, mineral products and original equipment components.
 
The cumulative trade balance deficit for the year to date is R10.6 billion compared to  R13.1 billion in August 2010, an improvement of R2.5 billion (18.8%).

Trade Highlights by Category:

The July 2011 to August 2011 change (up by 8.0%) in exports of goods reflected increases mainly in:

• Products of the chemical or allied industries increased by R 952 million (36%);
• Precious and semi-precious stones and metals increased by R 683 million (5%);
• Machinery and electrical appliances increased by R 656 million (15%);
• Mineral products increased by R 606 million (4%) and
• An increase in base metals and articles thereof by R 590 million (8%).

The July 2011 to August 2011 change (up by 7.2%) in imports of goods reflected increases mainly in:

• Machinery and electrical appliances increased by R 744 million (5%);
• Mineral products increased by R 687 million (5%);
• Original equipment components increased by R 642 million (16%) and
• An increase in vehicles, aircraft and vessels by R 52 million (1%).

Trade Highlights by World Zone:

The world zone results for July 2011 and August 2011 as given below are unaudited

• Asia: The deficit decreased from R 7.9 billion in July to R 7.1 billion in August 2011. Exports increased by R 2.7 billion to R 21.8 billion and imports increased by R 1.9 billion to R 28.9 billion.
• Europe: The deficit increased from R 2.6 billion in July to R 5.6 billion in August 2011. Exports decreased by R 0.4 billion to R 15.2 billion and imports increased by R 2.6 billion to R 20.8 billion.
• America: The deficit decreased from R 4.2 billion in July to R 0.6 billion in August 2011. Exports increased by R 2.0 billion to R 7.3 billion and imports decreased by R 1.5 billion to R 8.0 billion.
• Africa: The surplus decreased from R 5.5 billion in July to R 4.3 billion in August 2011. Exports decreased by R 0.1 billion to R 9.4 billion and imports increased by R 1.1 billion to R 5.1 billion.
• Oceania: The deficit increased from R 0.9 billion in July to R 1.0 billion in August 2011. Exports increased by R 0.01 billion to R 0.7 billion and imports increased by R 0.2 billion to R 1.7 billion.

For more detail, visit the Trade Statistics web page.

Issued by: South African Revenue Service
30 Sep 2011

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