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30 Sep 2009

The South African Revenue Service (SARS) today releases trade statistics for August 2009 that record a trade deficit of R1.98 billion.

Summary of R1.98 billion deficits for August 2009 was mainly due to a decrease in exports of 9.18 percent and a decrease in imports of 3.76 percent. Exports for August 2009 of R40.38 billion and imports of R42.36 billion resulted in a deficit of R1.98 billion. Imports decreased by R1.7 billion (3.76 percent) to R42.36 billion and exports decreased by R4.1 billion (9.18 percent) to R40.38 billion.

Trade highlights by category:

* The July to August change (down by 3.76 percent) in imports of goods reflected decreases mainly in:
* Vehicles, vessels and aircrafts [down by R1.5 billion (32percent)]
* Machinery and mechanical appliances and electrical machinery and equipment [down by R0.4 billion (4 percent)
* Original equipment components [down by R0.3 billion (13percent)]

* The July to August change (down by 9.18 percent) in exports of goods reflected decreases mainly in:
* Mineral products [down by R1.8 billion (17 percent)]
* Vegetable products [down by R0.8 billion (30 percent)]
* Vehicles, aircraft and vessels [down by R0.7 billion (21 percent)]
* Base metals and articles thereof [down by R0.3 billion (4 percent)]; and
* Precious and semi-precious stones and metals [down by R0.1 billion (1 percent)].

Trade highlights by world zone:

The world zone results for August 2009 as given below are un-audited and those for July 2009 are audited:
* Asia: The deficit increased from R4.6 billion in July 2009 to R6.1 billion in August 2009. Exports decreased by R1.6 billion to R13 billion and imports decreased by R0.1 billion to R19.1 billion.
* Europe: The deficit increased from R2.6 billion in July 2009 to R3.3 billion in August 2009. Exports decreased by R3.3 billion to R10.5 billion and imports decreased by R2.6 billion to R13.8 billion.
* America: The deficit decreased from R1.2 billion in July 2009 to R0.8 billion in August 2009. Exports increased by R0.2 billion to R4.1 billion and imports decreased by R0.2 billion to R5 billion.
* Africa: The surplus decreased from R5.3 billion in July 2009 to R3.2 billion in August 2009. Exports decreased by R1 billion to R6.9 billion and imports increased by R1.2 billion to R3.7 billion.

For more detail, visit the Trade Stats page (http://www.sars.gov.za/home.asp?pid=1306).

Issued by: South African Revenue Service
30 September 2009
Source: South African Revenue Service (http://www.sars.gov.za/)

Issued by: South African Revenue Service
30 Sep 2009

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