Janet Wilhelm
Export Tracker Q4 - 2019
South Africa’s trade balance remained positive for the third consecutive quarter, recording a surplus of R23.2 billion in constant rand in Q4 2019 from R6 billion in the previous quarter. The upswing in the trade balance came about as the value of merchandise imports sharply declined by 5.6% to R319 billion in Q4 2019, compared to exports which decreased slightly by 0.6% from R344 billion in Q3 2019 to R342 in Q4 2019.
Business Day - 27 April 2020 by Neva Makgetla (TIPS Senior Economist)
Read online at Business Day.
Or read as a PDF.
Even essential industries have suffered reduced demand
Engineering News - 24 April 2020 by Marleyn Arnoldi
COVID-19: Post Lockdown Economy and Economic Responses
Date: Thursday 30 April 2020
Time: 09h30 – 10h30
ZOOM: Meeting ID: 823 5038 3340
Password: 011043
About the Speakers
Both South Africa and the world face an economic crash as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The downturn, which threatens to rival the Great Depression, results from the need to take extraordinary efforts to limit the contagion. Internationally, the consequence has been plummeting demand, especially in the global North, with falling export prices except for gold, as well as disrupted supply chains for most producers. In South Africa, the lockdown has brought a sharp decline in domestic production, combined with a rapid increase in joblessness, falling household and business incomes, and shrinking government revenues.
This brief looks at the impacts of the pandemic on the global economy, and especially South Africa’s main trading partners. Reopening the South African economy will take time and provide opportunities unevenly by industry and region. The regulation of economic activity will depend in part on the extent of infections, in part on the relative priority given to different value chains, and in part on the risk associated with the production of specific goods and services. But the recovery will also be affected by economic factors, in part rooted in the shutdown period and in part reflecting long-standing economic challenges nationally and internationally. The brief analyses the blockages to reopening the economy, which in turn lays the basis for more effective and strategic measures.
Download a copy or read the policy brief online.
Steel industry in financial distress because of lockdown
Business Report - 19 April 2020 by Edward West
Read online at Business Report
Engineering News - 17 April 2020 by Simone Liedtke
Risk-management techniques can help plot lockdown exit
Business Day - 13 April 2020 by Neva Makgetla (TIPS Senior Economist)
Read online at Business Day.
Or read as a PDF.
News Analysis: Lockdown decision is fraught with danger
COVID-19: The South African steel industry
South Africa’s economy was already weak at the start of 2020, coming from a technical recession and the forecasted low growth. The decision to lock down the country as part of the COVID-19 response to protect the health of the South African population has put further pressure on the steel industry. Depending on the length of the lockdown and the rate at which business and consumer confidence return, economic impacts could be less or more severe. This policy brief looks at the possible economic consequences of COVID-19 for South Africa’s steel industry.
Download a copy or read the policy brief online.