Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 22 Mar 1990

Vol. 397 No. 4

Written Answers. - Trade With South Africa.

Alan M. Dukes

Question:

40 Mr. Dukes asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if he will give details of (a) Ireland's exports to South Africa and (b) Ireland's imports from South Africa in each year from 1987; the sectors in which trade flows have changed most; and the reason for such changes.

Minister for Industry and Commerce (Mr. O'Malley)

I propose to circulate in the Official Report a tabular statement giving details of our trade with South Africa from 1987 as prepared by the Central Statistics Office.

In overall terms our trade with South Africa increased from £47 million in 1987 to £68 million in 1988 but fell to £39.8 million for the period January-November 1989.

As regards our exports to South Africa over the period, food and live animals is by far the largest single sector. Exports of food and live animals increased from £19.3 million in 1987 to £31.8 million in 1988. The figures for January-November 1989 show a significant decrease in this sector to £5.9 million. I am advised that the reason for the fall in these exports is that other markets, mainly in Europe and the Middle East, were available to beef exporters.

Leaving aside these food exports, our export trade with South Africa has been relatively static at £24.3 million, £28.4 million and an estimated £25 million in the years 1987, 1988 and 1989, respectively. In the same period our total worldwide exports increased by some 55 per cent. I would also point out that our total trade with South Africa represents less than 0.5 per cent of total EC trade with that country.

On the import side, mineral fuels (coal) accounted for the major proportion of imports. Again imports, excluding coal, have been relatively static at an average of £6 million for each of the years 1987, 1988 and 1989. Imports of coal have grown from £1.4 million in 1987 to over £4.9 million in January-November 1989. I am advised that such imports were made by private companies in Ireland.

A. Exports to the Republic of South Africa and Namibia.*

			Jan.-Nov.
Commodity†	1987	1988	1989‡
	£000	£000	£000
Food and live animals	19,338	31,765	5,877
Beverages and tobacco	934	1,384	1,400
Crude materials, inedible, except fuels	1,116	8	44
Mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials	8	7	—
Animal and vegetable oils, fats and waxes	—	—	—
Chemicals and related products	8,084	8,980	7,825
Manufactured goods classified chiefly by material	1,321	1,667	1,755
Machinery and transport equipment	7,168	9,868	4,951
Miscellaneous manufactured articles	2,787	3,292	5,349
Commodities and transactions not classified elsewhere	88	519	572
Total	40,844	57,491	27,773

B. Imports from the Republic of South Africa and Namibia.*

			Jan.-Nov.
Commodity†	1987	1988	1989‡
	£000	£000	£000
Food and live animals	277	687	787
Beverages and tobacco	1	2	3
Crude materials, inedible, except fuels	728	2,904	2,196
Mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials	1,419	4,008	4,986
Animal and vegetable oils, fats and waxes	—	—	—
Chemicals and related products	592	295	153
Manufactured goods classified chiefly by material	2,536	2,072	2,958
Machinery and transport equipment	133	168	340
Miscellaneous manufactured articles	576	537	648
Commodities and transactions not classified elsewhere	1	—	—
Total	6,262	10,672	12,071

* The country nomenclature of the European Economic Community, which is used for the purpose of customs documentation, does not enable separate data for South Africa and Namibia to be collected.

† For 1987 the commodity classification used was the Standard International Trade Classification (SITC Rev 2); for 1988 and 1989 SITC Rev 3 was used. This may have resulted in some minor discontinuities in the commodity categories between 1987 and 1988.

‡ The latest period for which such information is available.

Country/commodity detail from external trade statistics does not include:

(a) transactions (non-dutiable) of less than £200 for 1987, 1988 and 1989;

(b) trade by firms operating in Shannon Free Airport;

(c) postal packages not covered by customs entries.