Pretoria, 30 March 2012 – The South African Revenue Service (SARS) today releases trade statistics for February 2012 that record a trade deficit of R7.5 billion.
Summary
The trade deficit for February 2012 is R7.5 billion (Deficit of 0.2 billion in February 2011) compared to a deficit of R13.5 billion in January 2012, a month-on-month decline in the deficit of R6.0 billion. Exports increased by R2.3 billion (4.2%) to R56.3 billion and imports decreased by R3.8 billion (-5.6%) to R63.7 billion.
The reduced trade deficit of R7.5 billion in February 2012 was mainly due to increased exports of vehicles, machinery and electrical appliances and decreased imports of machinery and electrical appliances and vehicles.
The cumulative deficit for 2012 is R21.0 billion compared to a cumulative deficit of R5.5 billion in 2011.
Trade Highlights by Category
The January to February change (up by 4.2%) in exports of goods reflected changes mainly in:
- Vehicles, aircraft and vessels increased by R 2 089 million (73%);
- Machinery and electrical appliances increased by R1 321 million (34%);
- Base metals and articles thereof increased by R 1 045 million (14%) and
- Mineral products decreased by R 1 172 million (-8%);
The January to February change (down by -5.6%) in imports of goods reflected changes mainly in:
- Mineral products increased by R3 050 million (22%);
- Original equipment components increased by R216 million (6%);
- Base metals and articles thereof decreased by R 523 million (-15%);
- Plastic and articles thereof; rubber and articles thereof decreased by R572 million (-20%);
- Vehicles, aircraft and vessels decreased by R 1 373 million (-18%) and
- Machinery and electrical appliances decreased by R3 747 million (-22%).
Trade Highlights by World Zone
The world zone results for January and February 2012 as given below are unaudited.
- Asia The deficit decreased from R 13.0bn in January to R 11.5bn in February 2012. Exports decreased by R 1.0bn to R 18.9bn
and imports decreased by R 2.5bn to R 30.4bn - Europe The deficit decreased from R 6.3bn in January to R 5.3bn in February 2012. Exports decreased by R 0.3bn to R 14.5bn
and imports decreased by R 1.3bn to R 19.8bn. - America The deficit decreased from R 2.6bn in January to R 2.2bn in February 2012. Exports decreased by R 0.5bn to R 5.5bn
and imports decreased by R 0.9bn to R 7.6bn. - Africa The surplus increased from R 3.7bn in January to R 5.1bn in February 2012. Exports increased by R 2.2bn to R 9.6bn
and imports increased by R 0.8bn to R 4.5bn. - Oceania The deficit decreased from R 0.7bn in January to R 0.5bn in February 2012. Exports increased by R 0.1bn to R 0.6bn
and imports decreased by R 0.1bn to R 1.1bn.
1.1 SA Trade Release Table
