According to the preliminary data released by Statistics South Africa (SSA), in December last year South Africa's manufacturing output rose by 2.5 percent compared to the same month of 2012, while in the whole of last year the country's manufacturing output increased by 1.3 percent year on year.
The main reasons for the 2.5 year-on-year increase in December last year was the five percent increase in the production of food and beverages, the 2.5 percent increase in the production of basic iron and steel, non-ferrous metal products, metal products and machinery, and the output growth of 1.7 percent in petroleum, chemical products, rubber and plastic products, according to the SSA.
The production of basic iron and steel products in South Africa increased by 2.5 percent year on year in December, while the seasonally adjusted production index of basic iron and steel products decreased by 2.7 percent in the given month compared to November. In the whole of last year, South Africa's basic iron and steel product output increased by 2.9 percent year on year.
For basic iron and steel products, the estimated seasonally adjusted sales of manufactured products (at current prices) in December last year increased by 5.6 percent month on month, amounting to ZAR 9.16 billion ($824.40 million), while the actual sales value of basic iron and steel products rose 15.7 percent year on year. In 2013, South Africa's basic iron and steel product output increased by seven percent year on year, amounting to ZAR 103.51 billion ($9.32 billion).