Pretoria, 28 June 2013 —The South African Revenue Service (SARS) today releases trade statistics for May 2013 that record a trade deficit of R11.03 billion.
Summary
The R11.03 billion deficit for May 2013 can be attributed to exports of R66.48 billion and imports of R77.51 billion.
Exports increased from April to May by R0.08 billion (0.1%) and imports decreased from to April to May by R4.80 billion (-5.8%).
The cumulative deficit for 2013 is R68.71 billion compared to R46.21 billion in 2012.
Trade Highlights by Category
- The April to May change (up by 0.1%) in exports of goods reflected increases and decreases mainly in:
- Vegetable products increased by R1 049 million (37%);
- Machinery and electrical appliances increased by R752 million (14%);
- Vehicles, aircraft and vessels increased by R 688 million (11%);
- Products of the chemicals or allied industries increased by R 386 million (11%);
- Prepared foodstuffs, beverages and tobacco increased by R 162 million (8%);
- Pulp of wood, waste and scrap of paper increased by R 134 million (14%);
- Mineral products decreased by R1 447 million (-8%);
- Precious and semi-precious stones and metals decreased by R1 081 million (-8%);
- Base metals and articles thereof decreased by R 562 million (-6%);
• The April to May change (down by 5.8%) in imports of goods reflected decreases and an increase mainly in:
- Mineral products decreased by R3 315 million (-16%);
- Machinery and electrical appliances decreased by R 894 million (-4%);
- Vehicles, aircraft and vessels increased by R 753 million (10%);
Trade Highlights by World Zone
The world zone results for April to May 2013 as given below are unaudited.
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Asia: The deficit decreased from R14.15 bn in April 2013 to R 10.63 bn in May 2013. Exports decreased by R 1.11 bn to R 24.37 bn and imports decreased by R4.64 bn to R35.01 bn.
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Europe: The deficit decreased from R 10.34 bn in April 2013 to R8.70 bn in May 2013. Exports increased by R 1.19 bn to R 16.16 bn and imports decreased by R 0.45 bn to R 24.86 bn.
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America: The deficit decreased from R1.51 bn in April 2013 to R0.94 bn in May 2013. Exports increased by R0.88 bn to R 7.38 bn and imports increased by R 0.30 bn to R8.32 bn.
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Africa: The surplus increased from R4.43 bn in April 2013 to R4.65 bn in May 2013. Exports increased by R0.69 bn to R12.67 bn and imports increased by R0.46 bn to R8.01 bn.
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Oceania: The deficit decreased from R0.69 bn in April 2013 to R0.46 bn in May 2013. Exports decreased by R0.03 bn to R 0.73 bn and imports decreased by R0.27 bn to R1.18 bn.
Trade Stats table:
For more detail, visit the Trade Data webpage.
