JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – South Africa’s mining production decreased by 8.7% year-on-year in February, Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) reported on Thursday.
Iron-ore had made the largest negative contribution of -6.8 percentage points, followed by platinum-group metals (PGMs) contributing -2.2 percentage points and manganese ore contributing -1.4 percentage points.
Gold made a significant positive contribution of 1.8 percentage points.
"Another sharp contraction in headline mining output growth continues to highlight the severe pressures the mining industry is facing amid depressed demand and persistently low commodity prices," commented BNP Paribas Securities South Africa economist Jeffrey Schultz.
He added that the production figures did not bode well for the mining sector's contribution to gross domestic product growth for the first quarter of this year.
Mining production had recorded a 1.3% month-on-month increase in February, following month-on-month changes of -5.1% in January and -0.8% in December 2015.
Seasonally adjusted mining production for the three months ended February decreased by 2.2%, compared with the previous three months.
Stats SA further reported that mineral sales were 1.5% lower year-on-year in January, with iron-ore, manganese ore and chromium ore making the largest negative contributions.
Gold, PGMs and other nonmetallic minerals had, however, made significant positive contributions to mineral sales in January.