In an earlier paper, Sandrey and Fundira examined agricultural trade between South Africa and India. The objective of this paper is to extend that analysis to examine non-agricultural trade between the two countries, focusing on Indian imports/South African exports.

SACU has recently begun serious negotiations with India with a view towards intensifying the trading relation between the two parties. India has become a major trading partner for South Africa, with exports valued at $1.35 billion destined for the sub-continent in 2007 (up some 72.8 percent from 2006). Fuels (including coal) were the main export, followed by inorganic chemicals. During 2007 India was the 9th main source of South African imports ($1.78 billion), with main imports again fuels and then vehicles. We caution that trade reconciliation shows that South African exports to India considerably understate Indian imports from its South African partner as gold transactions are not recorded as South African exports. Thus South African export data viewed in isolation does not give a true indication of the importance of India as a trading partner.

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