South Africa Trade Surplus drops to 7.2 billion in August

By: Chime Amara

South Africa has recorded a decline in its trade surplus in August with the figure falling to ZAR 7.2 billion against the previous record of ZAR 24.8 billion witnessed in the previous month. The report came much below the market forecasts of ZAR 23.7 billion. This could be seen as the lowest trade surplus recorded so far in seven months.

According to the data disclosed by the South African Revenue Service (SARS), the exports dropped by 1.0% MoM to 175.37 billion rands in August while imports were up 10.4% at 168.19 billion rands.

The major decline in its exports came from the exportations of precious metals & stones which declined by -15%. Following closely the chemical products declined by -13% and base metals fell by -11%.

However, some increases were seen in the exportation of vegetables which rose by 8%, and mineral products which rose by 8% also.

The major import partners for South Africa were China with over 21.6% of total purchases made and closely followed by the US with a total of 7.2%. Next is Germany with a total of 6.9%.