SARS Media Release – Trade Statistics for March 2015
30 April 2015
Including BLNS
Pretoria, 30 April 2015 – The South African Revenue Service (SARS) today releases trade statistics for March 2015 that recorded a trade surplus of R0.48 billion. This figure includes trade data with Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland (BLNS).
Summary
The R0.48 billion surplus for March 2015 is due to exports of R91.34 billion and imports of R90.86 billion. Exports increased from February 2015 to March 2015 by R14.75 billion (19.3%) and imports increased from February 2015 to March 2015 by R5.55 billion (6.5%).
The cumulative deficit for 2015 is R32.62 billion compared to R27.22 billion in 2014.
Trade highlights by category
The month-on-month export movements:
|
R’ million |
|
|
|
Section: |
Including BLNS: |
|
|
Precious Metals & Stones |
+ R4 697 |
+ 37.8% |
|
Machinery & Electronics |
+ R1 864 |
+ 25.1% |
|
Base Metals |
+ R1 551 |
+ 15.5% |
|
Vehicle & Transport Equipment |
+ R1 372 |
+ 12.6% |
|
Mineral Products |
+ R1 344 |
+ 8.3% |
The month-on-month import movements:
|
R’ million |
|
|
|
Section: |
Including BLNS: |
|
|
Vehicle & Transport Equipment |
+ R2 544 |
+ 29.1% |
|
Machinery & Electronics |
+ R2 061 |
+ 10.7% |
|
Mineral Products |
+ R1 266 |
+ 8.7% |
|
Equipment Components |
+ R 508 |
+ 7.6% |
|
Vegetable Products |
- R1 102 |
- 41.5% |
Trade highlights by world zone
The world zone results from February 2015 to March 2015 are given below.
Africa:
Exports: R26 221 million – this is an increase of R3 251 million from February 2015
Imports: R11 097 million – this is a decrease of R 475 million from February 2015
Trade surplus: R15 124 million.
This is a 32.7% increase in comparison to the R11 398 million surplus recorded in February 2015
America:
Exports: R9 118 million – this is an increase of R1 514 million from February 2015
Imports: R10 411 million – this is an increase of R 978 million from February 2015
Trade deficit: R1 293 million
This is a 29.3% decrease in comparison to the R1 829 million deficit recorded in February 2015.
Asia:
Exports: R26 904 million – this is an increase of R4 176 million from February 2015
Imports: R39 223 million – this is an increase of R 872 million from February 2015
Trade deficit: R12 319 million
This is a 21.1% decrease in comparison to the R15 623 million deficit recorded in February 2015
Europe:
Exports: R21 658 million – this is an increase of R3 382 million from February 2015
Imports: R28 910 million – this is an increase of R4 828 million from February 2015
Trade deficit: R7 252 million
This is a 24.9% increase in comparison to the R5 806 million deficit recorded in February 2015
Oceania:
Exports: R1 092 million – this is an increase of R 290 million from February 2015
Imports: R1 045 million – this is a decrease of R 657 million from February 2015
Trade surplus: R 47 million
This is an improvement compared to the R 901 million deficit recorded in February 2015
Excluding BLNS
The trade data excluding BLNS for March 2015 recorded a trade deficit of R8.58 billion.
Summary
The R8.58 billion deficit for March 2015 is as a result of exports of R79.50 billion and imports of R88.07 billion. Exports increased from February 2015 to March 2015 by R13.70 billion (20.8%) and imports increased from February 2015 to March 2015 by R5.18 billion (6.3%).
The cumulative deficit for 2015 is R57.13 billion compared to R52.44 billion in 2014.
Trade highlights by category
The month-on-month export movements:
|
R’ million |
|
|
|
Section: |
Excluding BLNS: |
|
|
Precious Metals & Stones |
+ R4 999 |
+ 43.9% |
|
Machinery & Electronics |
+ R1 522 |
+ 25.5% |
|
Base Metals |
+ R1 409 |
+ 15.2% |
|
Mineral Products |
+ R1 381 |
+ 9.6% |
|
Vehicles & Transport Equipment |
+ R1 161 |
+ 12.1% |
The month-on-month import movements:
|
R’ million |
|
|
|
Section: |
Excluding BLNS: |
|
|
Vehicles & Transport Equipment |
+ R2 529 |
+ 29.0% |
|
Machinery & Electronics |
+ R2 001 |
+ 10.5% |
|
Mineral Products |
+ R1 254 |
+ 8.6% |
|
Equipment Components |
+ R 508 |
+ 7.6% |
|
Vegetable Products |
- R1 108 |
- 42.2% |
Trade highlights by world zone
The world zone results from February 2015 to March 2015 are given below.
Africa:
Exports: R14 372 million – this is an increase of R2 195 million from February 2015
Imports: R8 310 million – this is a decrease of R 838 million from February 2015
Trade surplus: R6 062 million
This is a 100.1% increase in comparison to the R3 029 million surplus recorded in February 2015.
BLNS (Only)
Trade Statistics with BLNS countries
Trade statistics with the BLNS for March 2015 recorded a trade surplus of R9.06 billion.
Summary
The R9.06 billion surplus for March 2015 is as a result of exports of R11.85 billion and imports of R2.79 billion.
Exports increased from February 2015 to March 2015 by R1.06 billion (9.8%) and imports increased from February 2015 to March 2015 by R0.36 billion (15.0%).
The cumulative surplus for 2015 is R24.51 billion compared to R25.22 billion in 2014.
Trade Highlights by Category
The month-on-month export movements:
|
R’ million |
|
|
|
Section: |
BLNS: |
|
|
Machinery & Electronics |
+ R 342 |
+ 23.4% |
|
Vehicles & Transport Equipment |
+ R 211 |
+ 16.5% |
|
Chemical Products |
+ R 171 |
+ 20.5% |
|
Base Metals |
+ R 142 |
+ 19.1% |
|
Precious Metals & Stones |
- R 302 |
- 29.1% |
The month-on-month import movements:
|
R’ million |
|
|
|
Section: |
BLNS: |
|
|
Precious Metals & Stones |
+ R 270 |
+ 122.7% |
|
Machinery & Electronics |
+ R 60 |
+ 30.5% |
|
Textiles |
+ R 45 |
+ 14.4% |
|
Chemical Products |
- R 35 |
- 6.2% |
|
Prepared Foodstuff |
- R 74 |
- 16.4% |
Statement issued by Luther Lebelo, SARS Spokesperson, April 30 2015
