News
South Africa Merchandise Trade Statistics for February 2016
The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has released trade statistics for February 2016 that recorded a trade deficit of R1.07 billion. This figure includes trade data with Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland (BLNS).
Including trade data with Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland (BLNS)
The R1.07 billion deficit for February 2016 is due to exports of R90.68 billion and imports of R91.75 billion, improving from a revised deficit of R17.96 billion in January 2016. Exports increased from January 2016 to February 2016 by R19.29 billion (27.0%) and imports increased from January 2016 to February 2016 by R2.39 billion (2.7%).
On a year-on-year basis, the R1.07 billion deficit is an 85.8% decrease on the deficit recorded in February 2015 of R7.53 billion. Exports of R90.68 billion are 16.5% more than the exports recorded in February 2015 of R77.82 billion. Imports of R91.75 billion are 7.5% more than the imports recorded in February 2015 of R85.35 billion.
The cumulative deficit for 2016 of R19.03 billion is 38.5% less than the deficit for the comparable period in 2015 of R30.96 billion.
The month of January 2016 trade balance deficit was revised upwards by R0.09 billion from the previous month’s preliminary deficit of R17.87 billion to a revised deficit of R17.96 billion.
Trade highlights by category
The month-on-month export movements (R’ million):
| Section: | Including BLNS: | |
| Vehicle & Transport Equipment | + R6 596 | + 109.1% |
| Precious Metals & Stones | + R5 908 | + 51.9% |
| Machinery & Electronics | + R1 962 | + 28.1% |
| Vegetable Products | + R1 279 | + 34.8% |
| Mineral Products | - R1 373 | - 8.2% |
The month-on-month import movements (R’ million):
| Section: | Including BLNS: | |
| Vehicle & Transport Equipment | + R 1 671 | + 19.1% |
| Equipment Components | + R 939 | + 13.3% |
| Textiles | + R 898 | + 24.1% |
| Vegetable Products | + R 677 | + 28.5% |
| Machinery & Electronics | - R1 668 | - 6.9% |
| Mineral Products (Including Crude Oil) | - R 620 | - 5.7% |
Trade highlights by world zone
The world zone results from January 2016 to February 2016 are given below.
Africa:
Trade surplus: R14 320 million – this is a 21.4% increase in comparison to the R11 798 million surplus recorded in January 2016.
America:
Trade deficit: R2 606 million – this is a 27.1% decrease in comparison to the R3 573 million deficit recorded in January 2016.
Asia:
Trade deficit: R13 365 million – this is a 24.1% decrease in comparison to the R17 620 million deficit recorded in January 2016.
Europe:
Trade deficit: R7 060 million – this is a 44.6% decrease in comparison to the R12 752 million deficit recorded in January 2016.
Oceania:
Trade surplus: R 517 million – this is an improvement in comparison to the R 285 million deficit recorded in January 2016.
Excluding trade data with Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland (BLNS)
The trade data excluding BLNS for February 2016 recorded a trade deficit of R9.21 billion, with exports of R79.39 billion and imports of R88.60 billion. Exports increased from January 2016 to February 2016 by R18.15 billion (29.6%) and imports increased from January 2016 to February 2016 by R1.82 billion (2.1%).
The cumulative deficit for 2016 is R34.76 billion compared to R46.38 billion in 2015.
Trade highlights by category
The month-on-month export movements (R’ million):
| Section: | Excluding BLNS: | |
| Vehicles & Transport Equipment | + R6 204 | + 120.9% |
| Precious Metals & Stones | + R5 665 | + 53.7% |
| Machinery & Electronics | + R1 618 | + 28.6% |
| Prepared Foodstuff | + R1 442 | + 80.3% |
| Vegetable Products | + R1 253 | + 40.3% |
The month-on-month import movements (R’ million):
| Section: | Excluding BLNS: | |
| Vehicles & Transport Equipment | + R1 657 | + 19.1% |
| Equipment Components | + R 939 | + 13.3% |
| Textiles | + R 788 | + 23.2% |
| Vegetable Products | + R 690 | + 29.7% |
| Machinery & Electronics | - R1 730 | - 7.3% |
Trade highlights by world zone
The world zone results for Africa excluding BLNS from January 2016 to February 2016 are given below.
Africa:
Trade surplus: R6 173 million – this is a 46.3% increase in comparison to the R4 218 million surplus recorded in January 2016.
Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland (Only)
Trade statistics with the BLNS for February 2016 recorded a trade surplus of R8.15 billion, with exports of R11.29 billion and imports of R3.14 billion. Exports increased from January 2016 to February 2016 by R1.14 billion (11.2%) and imports increased from January 2016 to February 2016 by R0.57 billion (22.1%).
The cumulative surplus for 2016 is R15.73 billion compared to R15.42 billion in 2015.
Trade Highlights by Category
The month-on-month export movements (R’ million):
| Section: | BLNS: | |
| Vehicles & Transport Equipment | + R 392 | + 42.8% |
| Machinery & Electronics | + R 343 | + 26.2% |
| Precious Metals & Stones | + R 244 | + 29.3% |
| Prepared Foodstuff | - R 343 | - 25.5% |
| Mineral Products | - R 298 | - 16.1% |
The month-on-month import movements (R’ million):
| Section: | BLNS: | |
| Chemical Products | + R 122 | + 22.4% |
| Precious Metals & Stones | + R 115 | + 31.0% |
| Textiles | + R 110 | + 33.3% |
| Live Animals | + R 67 | + 41.9% |
| Machinery & Electronics | + R 62 | + 23.6% |
