Home » Media » Media Releases » 

31 January 2013 – South African Trade Statistics for December 2012

31 January 2013 – South African Trade Statistics for December 2012

South African Trade Statistics for December 2012

Pretoria, 31 January 2013 – The South African Revenue Service (SARS) today releases trade statistics for December 2012 that record a trade deficit of R2.70 billion.

Summary

The R2.70 billion deficit for December 2012 arose from exports of R59.79 billion and imports of R62.49 billion.

Exports decreased from November to December by R6.5 billion (-9.8%) and imports decreased from November to December by R11.7 billion (-15.8%).

The decreased trade deficit of R2.70 billion in December 2012 from R7.9 billion in November 2012 was due to decreased imports of machinery and electrical appliances, original equipment components, and products of the chemicals or allied industries and exports decreased in Base metals and articles, vessels, aircraft and aircraft and Machinery and melectrical appliances.

The cumulative deficit for 2012 is R117.7 billion compared to R16.9 billion in 2011.

Trade Highlights by Category

The November to December change (down by 9.8%) in exports of goods reflected decreases mainly in:

Base metals and articles thereof decreased by R2 019 million (-23%);
Vehicles, aircraft and vessels decreased by R1 078 million (-14%);
Machinery and electrical appliances decreased by R 944 million ( -15%);
Prepared foodstuffs, beverages and tobacco decreased by R 774 million ( -32%);
Products of the chemicals or allied industries decreased by R 536 million ( -14%).

The November to December change (down by 15.8%) in imports of goods reflected decreases mainly in:

Machinery and electrical appliances decreased by R3 329 million ( -19%);
Original equipment components decreased by R1 781 million ( -42%);
Products of the chemicals or allied industries decreased by R1 523 million ( -20%);
Plastics and rubber and articles thereof decreased by R 802 million ( -28%);
Textile and textile articles decreased by R 757 million ( -33%).
Trade Highlights by World Zone

The world zone results for November and December 2012 as given below are unaudited.

Asia:  The deficit decreased from R 13.8bn in November to R 8.8bn in December 2012. Exports decreased by R 1.4bn to R 20.7bn and imports decreased by R 6.4bn to R29.5bn.

Europe:  The deficit decreased from R 7.9bn in November to R 4.1bn in December. Exports decreased by R 1.4bn to R 13.2bn and imports decreased by R 5.2bn to R 17.3bn.

America: The deficit increased from R 0.4bn in November to a surplus of R 0.4bn in December. Exports increased by R 0.4bn to R 8.0bn and imports decreased by R 0.4bn to R 7.6bn.

Africa: The surplus decreased from R 7.5bn in November to R 4.1bn in December. Exports decreased by R 2.7bn to R 11.0bn and imports increased by R 0.8bn to R 7.0bn.

Oceania: The deficit decreased from R 0.8bn in November to R 0.4bn in December. Exports decreased by R 0.01bn to R 0.6bn and imports decreased by R 0.5bn to R 1.1bn.

For more detail, visit the SARS website, www.sars.gov.za; Customs and Excise; Trade Statistics.

SA Trade Release Table

 

ENDS

Share this page on:
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Email
Print