Engineering News - 1 June 2023 by Tasneem Bulbulia

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For more about the Development Dialogue on Small business in the economy read here

The Import Localisation and Supply Chain Disruption study is a quarterly report that seeks to identify goods from the list of imports identified in the Import Tracker report that South Africa could possibly viably manufacture. Each quarter focuses on five manufactured items from the list of imports in the corresponding quarter's Import Tracker report. The five products in this report are: 

Product 1: Lithium-ion accumulators (excluding spent)

Product 2: Insecticides (excluding goods of subheading 3808.50): Other

Product 3: Crude sunflower-seed or safflower oil: Other

Product 4: Superheated water boilers

Product 5: Needles, catheters, cannulae and the like, used in medical, surgical, dental or veterinary sciences 

Download: TIPS Import Tracker - Third Quarter 2023

ESI Africa - 18 May 2023 by Yunus Kemp

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News24 - 18 May 2023 by William Bredrode

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In the fourth quarter of 2022, merchandise exports experienced a decline of 4.6% year-on-year, amounting to R478 billion. This presents the largest decline in exports in the past two years, following the large contraction in Q2 2020 due to COVID-19. From the third quarter of 2022, exports declined by 12.6%. This poor export performance was driven by a decrease in the value and volume of mining exports. The value of mining exports has declined due to the fall in commodity prices, particularly iron ore, and platinum. Iron ore prices have declined by 11.2% since the fourth quarter of 2021, while platinum prices declined by 9.6% over the same period. Coal prices, in contrast, proved to be resilient during that period, increasing by 20.6%. However, they began to fall in the third quarter of 2022, mainly due to increased supply. In addition, the volume of mining exports was negatively affected by the October 2022 industrial strike at Transnet that hampered rail freight and port operations.

Engineering News Cover Story - 12 May 2023 by Schalk Burger

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TIPS Policy Brief available here: The European Union’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism and implications for South African exports

CleanTechnica - 11 May 2023 by Remeredzai Joseph Kuhudzai

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Business Day - 2 May 2023 by Neva Makgetla (TIPS Senior Economist)

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Or read as a PDF

Analysis in the fourth quarter of 2022 identified 17 new projects. Investment values were reported for only nine of the projects, amounting to R8.6 billion. Employment data was reported for five projects, totalling 2 316 employment opportunities, mainly comprising of jobs resulting from the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP) projects, with 266 permanent jobs and 2 050 temporary opportunities. The Tracker further recorded updates for 19 projects pre-existing this quarter.