South Africa’s mining sector expands in April after 14 consecutive months of year-on-year decline

(Kitco News) – According to Statistics South Africa (StatsSA), the domestic mining production increased by 2.3% in April 2023 following 14 consecutive months of year-on-year decline.

StatsSA said that largest positive contributors were gold (27.4%, contributing 3.5 percentage points) and coal (12.5%, contributing 3.1 percentage points); this was partly offset by decreased production of diamonds (-41.1%, contributing -2.0 percentage points), PGMs (-4.6%, contributing -1.1 percentage points), and manganese ore (-12.1%, contributing -1.0 percentage point).

The country’s seasonally adjusted mining production increased by 1.8% in April 2023 compared with March 2023. This followed month-on-month changes of 6.9% in March 2023 and -7.0% in February 2023.

The agency added that South Africa’s seasonally adjusted mining production increased by 0.4% in the three months ended April 2023 compared with the previous three months.

StatsSA also reported that the country’s mineral sales at current prices decreased by 25.6% year-on-year in April 2023, primarily due to lower sales of PGMs (-41.7%, contributing -15.2 percentage points), coal (-22.9%, contributing -6.2 percentage points), and gold (-45.7%, contributing -3.5 percentage points).

Seasonally adjusted mineral sales at current prices decreased by 10.1% in April 2023 compared with March 2023. This followed month-on-month changes of -2.9% in March 2023 and -1.7% in February 2023.

In the three months ended April 2023, South Africa’s seasonally adjusted value of mineral sales at current prices was 5.0% lower compared with the previous three months.