Including BLNS
Pretoria, 30 December 2014 – The South African Revenue Service (SARS) today releases trade statistics for November 2014 that recorded a trade deficit of R5.70 billion. This figure includes trade data with Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland (BLNS).
Summary Â
The R5.70 billion deficit for November 2014 is due to exports of R83.95 billion and imports of R89.66 billion. Exports decreased from October to November by R4.74 billion (5.3%) and imports decreased from October to November by R20.67 billion (18.7%).
The cumulative deficit for 2014 is R101.13 billion compared to R73.22 billion in 2013.
Trade highlights by category
The month-on-month export movements:
| R’ million | ||
| Section: | Including BLNS: | |
| Mineral Products | –Â R1 939 | – 9.8% |
| Vehicles & Transport Equipment | –Â R1 065 | – 9.1% |
| Machinery & Electronics | –Â R1 047 | – 10.7% |
| Prepared Foodstuffs | –Â R 622 | – 13.8% |
| Precious Metals & Stones | + R 991 | + 7.3% |
The month-on-month import movements:
| R’ million | ||
| Section: | Including BLNS: | |
| Mineral Products | – R9 386 | – 32.9% |
| Equipment Components | – R2 174 | – 28.7% |
| Chemical Products | – R1 756 | – 16.4% |
| Vehicles & Transport Equipment | – R1 742 | – 18.4% |
| Machinery & Electronics | –Â R1 297 | – 5.4% |
Trade highlights by world zone Â
The world zone results for November 2014 are given below.
Africa:Â Â
Exports: R28 955 million – this is a decrease of R 374 million from October 2014
Imports: R11 319 million – this is a decrease of R7 374 million from October 2014
Trade surplus: R17 636 million.
This is a 65.8% increase in comparison to the R10 637 million surplus recorded in October 2014.
America:Â Â
Exports: R7 560 million – this is a decrease of R1 598 million from October 2014
Imports: R9 275 million – this is a decrease of R3 080 million from October 2014
Trade deficit: R1 715 million
This is a 46.4% decrease in comparison to the R3 196 million deficit recorded in October 2014.
Asia:
Exports: R24 287 million – this is a decrease of R1 645 million from October 2014
Imports: R40 944 million – this is a decrease of R3 831 million from October 2014
Trade deficit: R16 657 million
This is an 11.6% decrease in comparison to the R18 843 million deficit recorded in October 2014.
Europe:Â Â
Exports: R17 155 million – this is a decrease of R 553 million from October 2014
Imports: R27 048 million– this is a decrease of R5 933 million from October 2014
Trade deficit: R9 894 million
This is a 35.2% decrease in comparison to the R15 274 million deficit recorded in October 2014.
Oceania:
Exports: R1 059 million – this is a decrease of R 276 million from October 2014
Imports:  R 944 million – this is a decrease of R 508 million from October 2014
Trade surplus: R 115 million
This is an improvement to the R 117 million deficit recorded in October 2014.
Excluding BLNS
The trade data excluding BLNS for November 2014 recorded a trade deficit of R16.30 billion.
Summary  Â
The R16.30 billion deficit for November 2014 is as a result of exports of R70.56 billion and imports of R86.87 billion. Exports decreased from October to November by R5.37 billion (7.1%) and imports decreased from October to November by R20.57 billion (19.1%).
The cumulative deficit for 2014 is R197.25 billion compared to R153.12 billion in 2013.
Trade highlights by category
The month-on-month export movements:
| R’ million | ||
| Section: | Excluding BLNS: | |
| Mineral Products | – R2 319 | Â Â Â Â Â – 12.9% |
| Machinery & Electronics | – R1 101 | – 14.1% |
| Vehicle & Transport Equipment | – R 870 | – 8.7% |
| Prepared Foodstuffs | – R 616 | – 18.3% |
| Precious Metals & Stones | + R 537 | + 4.1% |
The month-on-month import movements:
| R’ million | ||
| Section: | Excluding BLNS: | |
| Mineral Products | – R9 382 | – 33.0% |
| Equipment Components | – R2 174 | – 28.7% |
| Chemical Products | – R 1 881 | – 18.7% |
| Vehicle & Transport Equipment | – R1 742 | – 18.5% |
| Machinery & Electronics | – R1 359 | – 5.7% |
Trade highlights by world zone Â
The world zone results from October 2014 to November 2014 are given below.
Africa:Â Â
Exports: R15 564 million – this is a decrease of R1 004 million from October 2014
Imports: R8 529 million – this is a decrease of R7 282 million from October 2014
Trade surplus: R7 036 million
This is an 828.7% increase in comparison to the R758 million surplus recorded in October 2014.
3. BLNS (Only)
Trade Statistics with BLNS countries
Trade statistics with the BLNS for November 2014 recorded a trade surplus of R10.60 billion.
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Summary
The R10.60 billion surplus for November 2014 is as a result of exports of R13.39 billion and imports of R2.79 billion.
Exports increased from October to November by R0.63 billion (4.9%) and imports decreased from October to November by R 0.09 billion (3.2%).
The cumulative surplus for 2014 is R96.12 billion compared to R79.90 billion in 2013.
Trade Highlights by Category
The month-on-month export movements:
| R’ million | ||
| Section: | BLNS: | |
| Precious Metals & Stones | + R 454 | + 92.9% |
| Mineral Products | + R 380 | + 21.7% |
| Machinery & Electronics | + R 54 | + 2.9% |
| Textiles | – R 37 | – 5.9% |
| Vehicles & Transport Equipment | – R 195 | – 11.2% |
The month-on-month import movements:
| R’ million | ||
| Section: | BLNS: | |
| Precious Metals & Stones | – R194 | – 82.7% |
| Base Metals | – R 42 | – 25.9% |
| Live Animals | – R 42 | – 16.2% |
| Chemical Products | + R 125 | + 18.3% |
| Machinery & Electronics | + R 62 | + 22.8% |
For more info, visit the Trade Statistics webpages.