Zimbabwe retained its number one position, but with a slightly changed product mix - predominantly foodstuffs. “While it was heading in that direction last year, in the past we saw a much more balanced basket of goods to Zimbabwe, including machinery and equipment. “It’s now a lot of very basic commodities although we’re also still exporting into the mining industry and there is a small market for luxury goods.” Mozambique again took second place, also with fairly flat volumes. “But this was to be expected,” says Bonnett. “The big drivers of exports - the Mozal I and II projects - are pretty much complete and the construction industry isn’t growing as quickly as it was. Across the board there’s been a levelling out of trade.” Zambia was our third biggest partner. Volumes were down, largely due to the problems with the mines. A fairly broad range of goods - machinery, equipment prepared foods - moved into this market. Mauritius comes in at four. “Most of our exports to the Sadc region were flat or down. We just didn’t grow the markets in this region,” said Bonnett. Further down the line were: Malawi, Kenya, Angola, Tanzania, Nigeria and Ghana.
