# South Africa Import Opportunities

Explore South Africa's import opportunities by product, supplier concentration, demand growth, and market size.

- Latest import year: 2024
- Latest imports: $108.8B
- Import CAGR: +2.1%
- Trade openness: 53.0%

## Top Import Opportunities

| Rank | Product | Description | Market size | Demand growth | Suppliers | Concentration |
| ---: | --- | --- | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: |
| 1 | HS 271012 | Not reported | $11.2B | +20.9% | 80 | 1581 |
| 2 | HS 710812 | Metals: gold, non-monetary, unwrought (but not powder) | $2.7B | +17.8% | 13 | 6907 |
| 3 | HS 282200 | Cobalt oxides and hydroxides: commercial cobalt oxides | $1.6B | +47.8% | 11 | 9443 |
| 4 | HS 271019 | Not reported | $2.7B | +18.1% | 88 | 4952 |
| 5 | HS 270900 | Oils: petroleum oils and oils obtained from bituminous minerals, crude | $4.9B | +1.1% | 18 | 2661 |
| 6 | HS 851712 | Telephones for cellular networks or for other wireless networks | $1.8B | +6.3% | 102 | 5000 |
| 7 | HS 870322 | Vehicles: with only spark-ignition internal combustion piston engine, cylinder capacity over 1000 but not over 1500cc | $1.5B | +13.3% | 34 | 3674 |
| 8 | HS 710813 | Metals: gold, semi-manufactured | $824.6M | +12.9% | 26 | 9182 |
| 9 | HS 740319 | Copper: refined, unwrought, n.e.c. in item no. 7403.1 | $540.5M | +28.3% | 13 | 9950 |
| 10 | HS 750110 | Nickel: nickel mattes | $514.7M | +24.4% | 2 | 9977 |
| 11 | HS 847130 | Data processing machines: portable, digital and automatic, weighing not more than 10kg, consisting of at least a central processing unit, a keyboard and a display | $819.0M | +9.5% | 102 | 7738 |
| 12 | HS 850760 | Electric accumulators: lithium-ion, including separators, whether or not rectangular (including square) | $572.6M | +21.6% | 69 | 5713 |
| 13 | HS 740811 | Copper: wire, of refined copper, of which the maximum cross-sectional dimension exceeds 6mm | $560.2M | +19.0% | 19 | 6057 |
| 14 | HS 281820 | Aluminium oxide: other than artificial corundum | $656.5M | +3.5% | 26 | 9701 |
| 15 | HS 300490 | Medicaments: consisting of mixed or unmixed products n.e.s. in heading no. 3004, for therapeutic or prophylactic uses, packaged for retail sale | $1.4B | +6.1% | 96 | 1860 |
| 16 | HS 271600 | Electrical energy | $385.2M | +17.6% | 4 | 9959 |
| 17 | HS 854140 | Electrical apparatus: photosensitive, including photovoltaic cells, whether or not assembled in modules or made up into panels, light emitting diodes | $416.9M | +13.8% | 84 | 8805 |
| 18 | HS 100630 | Cereals: rice, semi-milled or wholly milled, whether or not polished or glazed | $621.6M | +6.4% | 47 | 6257 |
| 19 | HS 330210 | Odoriferous substances and mixtures: of a kind used in the food or drink industries | $529.8M | +12.6% | 86 | 5154 |
| 20 | HS 850231 | Electric generating sets: wind-powered, (excluding those with spark-ignition or compression-ignition internal combustion piston engines) | $340.1M | +41.3% | 18 | 6507 |
| 21 | HS 850440 | Electrical static converters | $585.4M | +10.3% | 116 | 3810 |
| 22 | HS 851762 | Communication apparatus (excluding telephone sets or base stations): machines for the reception, conversion and transmission or regeneration of voice, images or other data, including switching and routing apparatus | $960.8M | +4.2% | 112 | 2019 |
| 23 | HS 284390 | Inorganic or organic compounds: of precious metals (excluding gold and silver), whether or not chemically defined, amalgams of precious metals | $352.4M | +10.8% | 14 | 7988 |
| 24 | HS 740311 | Copper: refined, unwrought, cathodes and sections of cathodes | $367.3M | +13.3% | 8 | 6342 |
| 25 | HS 840820 | Engines: compression-ignition internal combustion piston engines (diesel or semi-diesel engines), of a kind used for the propulsion of vehicles of chapter 87 | $582.2M | +6.7% | 48 | 3712 |
| 26 | HS 151190 | Vegetable oils: palm oil and its fractions, other than crude, whether or not refined, but not chemically modified | $467.5M | +11.0% | 23 | 5316 |
| 27 | HS 271111 | Petroleum gases and other gaseous hydrocarbons: liquefied, natural gas | $221.5M | +22.0% | 4 | 10000 |
| 28 | HS 640299 | Footwear: n.e.s. in heading no. 6402, (other than just covering the ankle), with outer soles and uppers of rubber or plastics | $383.3M | +7.4% | 81 | 6524 |
| 29 | HS 870321 | Vehicles: spark-ignition internal combustion reciprocating piston engine, cylinder capacity not exceeding 1000cc | $377.4M | +11.3% | 30 | 5540 |
| 30 | HS 382499 | Chemical products, mixtures and preparations: n.e.c. heading 3824 | $464.7M | +38.2% | 83 | 2393 |
| 31 | HS 271121 | Petroleum gases and other gaseous hydrocarbons: in gaseous state, natural gas | $187.6M | +49.0% | 3 | 9807 |
| 32 | HS 490700 | Unused postage, revenue or similar stamps of current or new issue in the country in which they have, or will have, a recognised face value: stamp-impressed paper: cheque forms: banknotes, stock, share or bond certificates and the like of similar title | $305.7M | +10.0% | 27 | 7026 |
| 33 | HS 840733 | Engines: reciprocating piston engines, of a kind used for the propulsion of vehicles of chapter 87, of a cylinder capacity exceeding 250cc but not exceeding 1000cc | $216.6M | +33.3% | 16 | 6753 |
| 34 | HS 870120 | Tractors: road, for semi-trailers | $778.1M | +10.5% | 31 | 2151 |
| 35 | HS 271112 | Petroleum gases and other gaseous hydrocarbons: liquefied, propane | $156.8M | +37.8% | 10 | 9404 |
| 36 | HS 271113 | Petroleum gases and other gaseous hydrocarbons: liquefied, butanes | $200.7M | +31.0% | 26 | 5436 |
| 37 | HS 999999 | Commodities not specified according to kind | $792.0M | +0.9% | 34 | 2436 |
| 38 | HS 310540 | Fertilizers, mineral or chemical: ammonium dihydrogenorthophosphate (monoammonium phosphate) and mixtures thereof with diammonium hydrogenorthophosphate (diammonium phosphate) | $202.6M | +19.6% | 17 | 6307 |
| 39 | HS 710231 | Diamonds: non-industrial, unworked or simply sawn, cleaved or bruted, but not mounted or set | $478.5M | +0.5% | 17 | 3639 |
| 40 | HS 170113 | Sugars: cane sugar, raw, in solid form, as specified in Subheading Note 2 to this chapter, not containing added flavouring or colouring matter | $214.3M | +7.7% | 9 | 9741 |
| 41 | HS 870840 | Vehicles: parts, gear boxes | $721.6M | +7.2% | 82 | 1964 |
| 42 | HS 842952 | Mechanical shovels, excavators and shovel loaders: with a 360 degree revolving super structure | $368.2M | +9.0% | 26 | 3237 |
| 43 | HS 260400 | Nickel ores and concentrates | $169.9M | +13.8% | 10 | 9955 |
| 44 | HS 870899 | Vehicle parts and accessories: n.e.c. in heading no. 8708 | $885.8M | +4.5% | 133 | 1426 |
| 45 | HS 840734 | Engines: reciprocating piston engines, of a kind used for the propulsion of vehicles of chapter 87, of a cylinder capacity exceeding 1000cc | $347.9M | +3.3% | 39 | 4113 |
| 46 | HS 100199 | Cereals: wheat and meslin, other than durum wheat, other than seed | $524.4M | +8.2% | 26 | 2210 |
| 47 | HS 381512 | Catalysts, supported: reaction initiators, reaction accelerators and catalytic preparations, with precious metal or precious metal compounds as the active substance, n.e.c. or included | $241.0M | +11.8% | 23 | 4329 |
| 48 | HS 220820 | Spirits obtained by distilling grape wine or grape marc | $124.7M | +20.5% | 39 | 8961 |
| 49 | HS 670420 | Wigs, false beards, eyebrows and eyelashes, switches and the like and other articles n.e.s.: of human hair | $103.9M | +30.8% | 46 | 9870 |
| 50 | HS 640419 | Footwear: (other than sportswear), with outer soles of rubber or plastics and uppers of textile materials | $205.3M | +12.7% | 82 | 5116 |

## Supply Gaps

Products with higher supplier concentration may deserve closer continuity and sourcing review. This is a screening signal, not a recommendation by itself.

## Method

Reported trade observations and calculated indicators are shown separately. Validate suppliers, tariffs, standards, logistics, pricing, and continuity before acting.

## Data sources

- Primary trade series: OECD (2025), Balanced international merchandise trade statistics (BIMTS) - HS2017-6D, OECD Data Explorer (accessed on 2026-08-30). [OECD Data Explorer](https://data-explorer.oecd.org/) - [OECD Terms & Conditions](https://www.oecd.org/termsandconditions/)
- CEPII BACI bilateral trade flows (202601): [dataset page](https://www.cepii.fr/CEPII/en/bdd_modele/bdd_modele_item.asp?id=37) - [BACI documentation](https://www.cepii.fr/DATA_DOWNLOAD/baci/doc/baci_webpage.html) - [Etalab 2.0 Open Licence](https://www.etalab.gouv.fr/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/open-licence.pdf)

This page presents derived Yugalinks views of reported observations and calculated indicators.