The South African Revenue Service’s (SARS) trade statistics for August 2022 recorded a preliminary trade balance surplus of R7.18 billion. The surplus was lower than market expectations of R23.7 billion and the second lowest surplus since May 2020, said financial services group FNB. The smaller surplus was the result of a decrease in exports of 1% month-on-month and a sizable increase of 10.4% in imports compared to the previous month, it said., noting that the decline in exports came mainly on the back of substantial lower exports of precious metals and stones of R5.4 billion (-15%); base metals of R2.0 billion (-11%) and chemical products of R1.5 billion (-13%). Click here to read full article