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East London - About 50% of the value of South Africa's annual exports to the US involves products in the motor industry, unprocessed metals like platinum and palladium, components and accessories.
These South African industries will struggle in the next few months because of the US recession, says Christo Esterhuizen, a specialist economist at the American embassy in Pretoria.
The global decline in demand for platinum and the weak platinum price are not good news for South Africa, he told a meeting of the Border-Kei Chamber of Business in East London.
Citrus and wine exports to the US, he reckons, can also be severely impacted.
Bruce Neuling, an economic researcher associated with the embassy, said about a million people have lost their jobs in the US this year and millions of houses have been attached, which shows how seriously American consumers have been affected.
South Africa's largest export market in 2007 was the US, which received 10.7% of its exports. Vehicles and components worth R1bn were exported to the US In the first six months of 2008.
It's difficult to say how long the economic downturn will last, says Neuling, but the situation could remain extremely tight until late 2009.
- Sake24