The South African Revenue Service (SARS) today releases trade statistics for July 2011 that record a trade deficit of R3.9 billion.
Summary
The trade deficit for July 2011 is R3.9 billion (Surplus of R2.0 billion in July 2010) compared to a surplus of R4.9 billion in June 2011, a month to month decrease of R8.8 billion. The deficit was due to a decrease in exports of R4.0b (-6.7%) to R56.5b and an increase in imports of R4.7b (8.5%) to R60.4b.
The reduction in the trade surplus from R4.9b in June 2011 to a deficit of R3.9 billion in July 2011 was mainly due to lower precious metal exports and increased imports of crude oil, vehicles, aircraft, machinery, and electrical appliances.
The cumulative trade deficit for the year to date is R6.4 billion compared to R7.5 billion in July 2010, an improvement of R1.1 billion (14.5%).
Trade Highlights by Category
The June to July change (down by -6.7%) in exports of goods reflected decreases mainly in:
- precious and semi-precious stones and metals decreased by R2 268 million (-14%)
- products of the chemical or allied industries decreased by R 809 million (-23%)
- base metals and articles thereof decreased by R 424 million (-6%)
- machinery and electrical appliances decreased by R 112 million (-2%), and
- an increase in mineral products by R 119 million (1%)
The June to July change (up by 8.5%) in imports of goods reflected increases mainly in:
- Vehicles, aircraft and vessels increased by R1 879 million (36%)
- Machinery and electrical appliances increased by R1 289 million (10%)
- Mineral products increased by R1 043 million (9%)
- Products of the chemical or allied industries increased by R 612 million (12%)
- Original equipment components increased by R 136 million (4%)
Trade Highlights by World Zone
The world zone results for June and July 2011 as given below are unaudited:
- Asia: The deficit increased from R 5.1bn in June to R 7.9bn in July 2011. Exports decreased by R 1.6bn to R 19.0bn and imports increased by R 1.2bn to R 27.0bn
- Europe: The deficit increased from R 1.0bn in June to R 2.6bn in July 2011. Exports decreased by R 0.8bn to R 15.6bn and imports increased by R 0.8bn to R 18.2bn.
- America: The deficit increased from R 0.1bn in June to R 4.2bn in July 2011. Exports decreased by R 2.1bn to R 5.3bn and imports increased by R 2.0bn to R 9.5bn.
- Africa: The surplus increased from R 4.9bn in June to R 5.5bn in July 2011. Exports increased by R 0.8bn to R 9.6bn and imports increased by R 0.2bn to R 4.1bn.
- Oceania: The deficit increased from R 0.3bn in June to R 0.9bn in July 2011. Exports decreased by R R0.02bn to R 0.6bn and imports increased by R 0.5bn to R 1.5bn.
For more detail, visit the Trade Statistics web page.
Source: South African Revenue Services
