| Pretoria, 27 February 2015 – The South African Revenue Service (SARS) today releases trade statistics for January 2015 that recorded a trade deficit of R24.22 billion. This figure includes trade data with Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland (BLNS).
Summary
The R24.22 billion deficit for January 2015 is due to exports of R67.08 billion and imports of R91.30 billion. Exports decreased from December 2014 to January 2015 by R20.19 billion (23.1%) and imports increased from December 2014 to January 2015 by R10.70 billion (13.3%).
The cumulative deficit for 2015 is R24.22 billion compared to R16.55 billion in 2014.
Trade highlights by category
The month-on-month export movements:
| R’ million |
|
| Section: |
Including BLNS: |
| Precious Metals & Stones |
– R5 228 |
– 35.4% |
| Mineral Products |
– R4 401 |
– 19.4% |
| Vehicle & Transport Equipment |
– R2 349 |
– 27.3% |
| Machinery & Electronics |
– R2 090 |
– 25.0% |
| Base Metals |
– R1 462 |
– 13.5% |
The month-on-month import movements:
| R’ million |
|
| Section: |
Including BLNS: |
| Machinery & Electronics |
+ R2 005 |
+ 10.2% |
| Equipment Components |
+ R1 896 |
+ 44.7% |
| Base Metals |
+ R1 523 |
+ 40.6% |
| Vehicle & Transport Equipment |
+ R1 288 |
+ 14.8% |
| Mineral Products |
+ R1 093 |
+ 6.2% |
Trade highlights by world zone
The world zone results for January 2015 are given below.
Africa:
Exports: R20 018 million – this is a decrease of R3 614 million from December 2014
Imports: R12 029 million – this is an increase of R1 978 million from December 2014
Trade surplus: R7 989 million.
This is a 41.2% decrease in comparison to the R13 581 million surplus recorded in December 2014.
America:
Exports: R6 594 million – this is a decrease of R2 527 million from December 2014
Imports: R9 831 million – this is an increase of R1 521 million from December 2014
Trade deficit: R3 237 million
This is a comparison to the R 811 million surplus recorded in December 2014.
Asia:
Exports: R20 236 million – this is a decrease of R8 146 million from December 2014
Imports: R41 439 million – this is an increase of R4 026 million from December 2014
Trade deficit: R21 203 million
This is a 134.8% increase in comparison to the R9 031 million deficit recorded in December 2014.
Europe:
Exports: R16 262 million – this is a decrease of R3 055 million from December 2014
Imports: R26 493 million – this is an increase of R2 881 million from December 2014
Trade deficit: R10 231 million
This is a 138.2% increase in comparison to the R4 295 million deficit recorded in December 2014.
Oceania:
Exports: R 877 million – this is a decrease of R 433 million from December 2014
Imports: R1 356 million – this is an increase of R 175 million from December 2014
Trade deficit: R 479 million
This is a comparison to the R 129 million surplus recorded in December 2014
Excluding BLNS
The trade data excluding BLNS for January 2015 recorded a trade deficit of R31.33 billion.
Summary
The R31.33 billion deficit for January 2015 is as a result of exports of R57.72 billion and imports of R89.04 billion. Exports decreased from December 2014 to January 2015 by R19.81 billion (25.5%) and imports increased from December 2014 to January 2015 by R10.67 billion (13.6%).
The cumulative deficit for 2015 is R31.33 billion compared to R23.90 billion in 2014.
Trade highlights by category
The month-on-month export movements:
| R’ million |
|
| Section: |
Excluding BLNS: |
| Precious Metals & Stones |
– R5 583 |
– 37.9 % |
| Mineral Products |
– R4 236 |
– 20.3% |
| Vehicle & Transport Equipment |
– R2 383 |
– 32.0% |
| Machinery & Electronics |
– R2 126 |
– 29.9% |
| Base Metals |
– R1 433 |
– 14.1% |
The month-on-month import movements:
| R’ million |
|
| Section: |
Excluding BLNS: |
| Machinery & Electronics |
+ R1 950 |
+10.0 % |
| Equipment Components |
+ R1 896 |
+ 44.7% |
| Base Metals |
+ R1 491 |
+ 40.6% |
| Vehicle & Transport Equipment |
+ R1 280 |
+ 14.7% |
| Mineral Products |
+ R1 075 |
+ 6.1% |
Trade highlights by world zone
The world zone results from December 2014 to January 2015 are given below.
Africa:
Exports: R10 654 million – this is a decrease of R3 232 million from December 2014
Imports: R9 775 million – this is an increase of R1 957 million from December 2014
Trade surplus: R879 million
This is a 85.5% decrease in comparison to the R6 068 million surplus recorded in December 2014.
BLNS (Only)
Trade Statistics with BLNS countries
Trade statistics with the BLNS for January 2015 recorded a trade surplus of R7.11 billion.
Summary
The R7.11 billion surplus for January 2015 is as a result of exports of R9.36 billion and imports of R2.25 billion.
Exports decreased from December 2014 to January 2015 by R0.38 billion (3.9%) and imports increased from December to January by R0.02 billion (0.9%).
The cumulative surplus for 2015 is R7.11 billion compared to R7.34 billion in 2014.
Trade Highlights by Category
The month-on-month export movements:
| R’ million |
|
| Section: |
BLNS: |
| Mineral Products |
– R 165 |
– 9.4% |
| Textiles |
– R 122 |
– 26.5% |
| Vegetable Products |
– R 115 |
– 20.1% |
| Chemical Products |
– R 83 |
– 8.7% |
| Precious Metals & Stones |
+ R 355 |
+ 1559.7% |
The month-on-month import movements:
| R’ million |
|
| Section: |
BLNS: |
| Precious Metals & Stones |
+ R 156 |
+ 115.8% |
| Machinery & Electronics |
+ R 55 |
+ 40.1% |
| Base Metals |
+ R 32 |
+ 38.5% |
| Prepared Foodstuff |
– R 103 |
– 22.0% |
| Chemical Products |
– R 174 |
– 26.0% |
For more info, visit the Trade Statistics webpage. |
