South Africa Trade Surplus Widens in September as Imports Drop

(Bloomberg) --

South Africa’s trade surplus widened in September as the value of oil imports decreased.

The 5.2 billion rand ($343 million) surplus compares with a revised 4.5 billion positive balance in August, Pretoria-based South African Revenue Service said Thursday in a statement on its website. The median estimate of five economists in a Bloomberg survey was for a surplus of 2 billion rand.

Key Insights

• The surplus may bode well for the current account, which is the broadest measure of trade in goods and services, and the rand. The deficit on the current account widened to 4% of gross domestic product in the three months through June, the biggest in a year. It’s been a key risk to the economy for years, given the country also runs a fiscal deficit, which is forecast to widen to a 11-year high of 6.5% of GDP in 2020-2021 as the government props up the cash-strapped Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd.
• The trade account has a positive balance of 2.5 billion rand for the first nine months of 2019, compared with 1.8 billion rand for the same period last year, the tax agency said.
• Total export value fell 7.8% from a month earlier to 110.4 billion rand, led by a 10% drop in shipments of mineral products, which include iron ore and a coal, and an 11% decline in vehicle and transportation equipment.
• Imports fell by 8.6% to 105.3 billion rand as the value of the inward shipment of mineral products, which include oil, dropped by 23%.

--With assistance from Simbarashe Gumbo and John Viljoen.

To contact the reporter on this story: Rene Vollgraaff in Johannesburg at rvollgraaff@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Benjamin Harvey at bharvey11@bloomberg.net, Renee Bonorchis

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