According to the preliminary data released by Statistics South Africa, in April this year the country's manufacturing output rose by seven percent compared to the same month of 2012, while the seasonally adjusted manufacturing production is estimated to have increased by 8.4 percent compared to March.
The year-on-year increase in April this year was mainly due to the 18 percent increase in the production of motor vehicles, parts and accessories and ‘other' transport equipment and the 9.2 percent increase in the production of basic iron and steel, non-ferrous metal products, metal products and machinery. The production of basic iron and steel products in South Africa increased by 11.1 percent year on year in April, while the seasonally adjusted production index of basic iron and steel products saw an increase of 28.1 percent compared to March.
For basic iron and steel products, the estimated seasonally adjusted sales of manufactured products (at current prices) in April increased by 3.5 percent month on month, amounting to ZAR 8.5 billion ($853 million).