The South African Revenue Service (SARS) today releases trade statistics for September 2011 that record a trade surplus of R 2.5 billion.
Summary
The trade surplus for September 2011 is R 2.5 billion (Surplus of R3.6 billion for September 2010) compared to a deficit of R 3.7 billion in August 2011, a month to month increase of R 6.2 billion. The surplus was due to an increase in exports of R6.8 billion (11.1%) to R 67.8 billion and an increase in imports of R 0.5 billion (0.8%) to R 65.3 billion.
The change in the trade balance from a deficit of R 3.7 billion in August 2011 to a surplus of R 2.5 billion in September 2011 was mainly due to increased exports of precious and semi-precious stones and mineral products and increased imports of machinery and electrical appliances.
The cumulative deficit for the year to date is R 6.1 billion compared to R 9.9 billion in 2010, an improvement of R 3.8 billion or 38.4%.
Trade Highlights by Category
- The August to September change (up by 11.1%) in exports of goods reflected increases mainly in:
- precious and semi-precious stones and metals increased by R 4 172 million (28%)
- mineral products increased by R1 969 million (14%)
- vehicles, aircraft and vessels increased by R 728 million (14%)
- products of the chemical or allied industries increased by R 591 million (16%)
- base metals and articles decreased by R 301 million (-4%) and
- a decrease in Vegetable products by R 701 million (-23%).
- The August to September change (up by 0.8%) in imports of goods reflected an increase mainly in:
- machinery and electrical appliances increased by R1 074 million (7%);
- vehicles, aircraft and vessels decreased by R 229 million (-3%);
- original equipment components decreased by R 717 million (-16%); and
- a decrease in Mineral products by R1 102 million (-8%).
Trade Highlights by World Zone
The world zone results for August and September 2011 as given below are unaudited.
- Asia: The deficit increased from R 7.1 billion in August to R 9.0 billion in September 2011. Exports increased by R 0.4bn to R 22.2 billion and imports increased by R 2.3 billion to R 31.2 billion.
- Europe: The deficit decreased from R 5.6bn in August to R 4.0 billion in September 2011. Exports increased by R 2.1 billion to R 17.3 billion and imports increased by R 0.5 billion to R 21.3 billion.
- America: The deficit of R 0.6 billion in August changed to a surplus of R 0.2 billion in September 2011. Exports increased by R 0.7bn to R 8.0bn and imports decreased by R 0.2 billion to R 7.8 billion.
- Africa: The surplus increased from R 4.3 billion in August to R 6.7 billion in September 2011. Exports increased by R 1.2 billion to R 10.6 billion and imports decreased by R 1.2 billion to R 3.9 billion.
- Oceania The deficit decreased from R 1.0 billion in August to R 0.4 billion in September 2011. Exports decreased by R 0.06 billion to R 0.6 billion and imports decreased by R 0.7 billion to R 1.0 billion.
For more detail, visit our Trade Data website.
For further media enquiries, please contact:
Adrian Lackay
Tel: 012 422 4206
Cell: 083 388 2580
