South Africa’s mining output shrank for the seventh month in a row year-on-year in August, dragged down by platinum group metals (PGMs), gold and iron ore.
Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) said that mining production in South Africa fell by 5.9% year-on-year in August.
This followed a downwardly revised 8.2% slump in July, and was almost in line with market forecasts of a 5.95% contraction.
This subdued mining print in August marked the seventh consecutive month of falling mining activity, with January being the only exception since the beginning of the year.
The ramping up of Eskom’s rotational load shedding in the country has weighed heavily on the energy-intensive sector as production stalls.
Eskom has implemented nearly 100 days of load shedding since the beginning of the year due to a number of unplanned breakdowns at its ageing coal-fired power stations.
Stats SA said that PGMs production fell by 12.9% in August, while gold output shrank by 17.4% and iron ore by 15.2%.
“On the upside, the country produced more manganese ore, chromium ore and nickel,” said Stats SA’s principal survey statistician, Juan-Pierre Terblanche.
“Manganese ore recorded an increase of 25.4% year-on-year.”
On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, mining production was flat in August compared to July, following an upwardly revised 3.1% rise in July and a 1.0% decline in June.
However, mining production increased slightly by 0.6% in the three months ended August compared with the previous three months, with manganese ore and coal making the largest positive contributions.
BUSINESS REPORT