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South Africa recorded a R169 billion trade surplus from January through September 2026, compared with R117.5 billion a year earlier. Export earnings rose 7.2%, but analysts attributed much of the improvement to higher commodity prices and weak imports, with gains concentrated in mining and precious metals rather than broad-based export growth.
The surplus reflects price effects and subdued imports more than stronger export competitiveness, offering limited evidence of a durable improvement in trade-driven demand or supply. The story does not identify a material feed-commodity price effect.
thenational.co.zaEnzokuhle SabelaNov 9, 2026Not enough comparable past events yet for a historical read.
Moves of each commodity's benchmark from the last close before the event. Historical reads pool past events of the same kind; they describe what happened, not what will. Not investment advice.
