The South African Revenue Service (SARS) today releases trade statistics for April 2011 that record a trade deficit of R2.4 billion.
Summary
The trade deficit for April 2011 is R2.4 billion (deficit of R2.3 billion in April 2010) compared to a surplus of R0.97 billion in March 2011, a month to month decrease of R3.4 billion. This deficit was due to a decrease in exports of 14.2% and a decrease in imports of 8.7%.
Exports for April 2011 of R51.7 billion and imports of R54.1 billion resulted in a deficit of R2.4 billion.
Exports decreased by R8.6 billion (14.2%) and imports decreased by R5.2 billion (8.7%).
The trade deficit of R2.4 billion for April 2011 was buoyed mainly by higher imports of mineral products.
The cumulative deficit for the year to date is R7.5 billion compared to R12.1 billion in 2010, an improvement of R4.6 billion or 38.0%.
Trade highlights by category
- The March to April change (down by -14.2%) in exports of goods reflected decreases mainly in:
- Products of the chemical or allied industries by R452 million (-14%);
- Mineral products by R883 million (-6%)
- Machinery and electrical appliances by R942 million (-18%)
- Vehicles, aircraft and vessels by R1 044 million (-20%)
- Base metals and articles thereof by R1 647 million (-18%)
- Precious and semi-precious stones and metals by R2 122 million (-14%).
- The March to April change (down by -8.7%) in imports of goods reflected decreases mainly in:
- Prepared foodstuffs, beverages and tobacco by R527 million (-34%)
- Base metals and articles thereof by R607 million (-22%)
- Animal or vegetable fats and oils and their cleavage products by R820 million (-74%)
- Original equipment components by R863 million (-23%)
- Products of the chemical or allied industries by R998 million (-17%)
- Machinery and electrical appliances by R1 492 million (-10%)
- Vehicles, aircraft and vessels by R2 961 million (-34%)
- An increase in mineral products by R4 328 million (42%).
Trade Highlights by World Zone
- The world zone results for March and April 2011 as given below are unaudited.
- Asia: The deficit increased from R1.3 billion in March to R5.9 billion in April 2011. Exports decreased by R3.9 billion to R18.2 billion and imports increased by R0.8 billion to R24.1 billion.
- Europe: The deficit decreased from R8.9 billion in March to R3.2 billion in April 2011. Exports decreased by R0.5 billion to R14.2 billion and imports decreased by R6.2 billion to R17.4 billion.
- America: The deficit increased from R0.8 billion in March to R1.1 billion in April 2011. Exports decreased by R0.9 billion to R6.1 billion and imports decreased by R0.6 billion to R7.2 billion.
- Africa: The surplus decreased from R6.0 billion in March to R3.4 billion in April 2011. Exports decreased by R1.6 billion to R7.9 billionand imports increased by R1.1 billion to R4.5 billion.
- Oceania: The deficit decreased from R0.3 billion in March to R0.1 billion in April 2011. Exports decreased by R0.05 billionto R0.6 billion and imports decreased by R0.2 billion to R0.8 billion.
For more detail, visit our Trade Statistics webpage.
Source: South African Revenue Service
