South Africa recorded a preliminary trade surplus of R15.6bn in October, down from a revised R22.3bn in September, the South African Revenue Service (Sars) has said.
This was below consensus expectations.
The surplus resulted from exports of R192.2bn and imports of R176.6bn, inclusive of trade with Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho and Namibia (BELN).
This means South Africa still exported more than it imported in October, but the surplus was smaller as imports grew faster than exports. The gap narrowed mainly because import values rose sharply on the back of higher purchases of crude oil, petroleum oils (excluding crude) and original equipment components, while exports were supported by gold, diamonds and unwrought aluminium.
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