Pretoria - The seasonally adjusted Trade Activity Index (TAI) improved by four index points to reach 48 in September, said the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Sacci).
Releasing its monthly Trade Conditions Survey on Tuesday, Sacci said although there was an improvement in September, trade conditions remained tight and in negative territory.
“The September 2014 level is slightly below the TAI of 50 a year ago. Trade conditions are currently challenged to exceed 50. On an unadjusted basis, the TAI improved by five index points from 43 in August 2014 to 48 in September,” said Sacci.
Uninspiring economic growth of between 1% and 2% for 2014, difficulties in recovering from labour disruptions, households being financially pressured and export volumes being below par, were the contributors to restrained trade conditions.
According to Sacci, the sales volumes and new orders sub-indices rebounded and after being six and five points down in August respectively, both indices recovered to 47 in September.
However, both indices remained in negative territory. Supplies and backlogs on orders both improved but the inventories index declined by three points to 50 in September.
The tight trade conditions continued to contain price pressures with the sales price index at 55 and the input price index at 68 in September 2014.
Although both price indices increased in September, the levels were below the average of 62 for sales prices and 73 for input prices in the first nine months of 2014.
“The respondents to the Sacci September 2014 Trade Survey remained positive about trade conditions for the coming six months and the seasonally adjusted expectations index recorded a level of 62.
“Expectations for both sales and input prices correspondingly remained virtually unchanged at 60 and 70,” said Sacci.
The employment conditions index in the trade environment increased from 45 in August to 47 in September 2014, while prospects for employment improved marginally as the expectations index rose to 53 from 52 in August. - SAnews.gov.za
