April’s wholesale trade declined 2.6% from the same month in 2017, Statistics SA reported on Thursday.In prices set to 2015 levels to strip out the effects of inflation, South African wholesalers sold a total of R130bn in April, down from R150bn in March and R134bn in April 2017.In current prices, April’s wholesale trade came to R150bn, down from R171bn in March, but higher than the R147bn sold in April 2017.Fuel is the largest component of wholesale trade, accounting for 22% of the total.The increase in petrol and diesel prices due to taxes implemented in April led wholesale fuel sales to fall 8.5%, to R33bn from R36bn in March.The one percentage point increase in VAT caused the wholesale value of food sold in April to fall 15% to R24bn from R28bn.
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