According to the preliminary data released by Statistics South Africa, in April this year the country's mining production decreased by 0.4 percent year on year, while the seasonally adjusted mining production index in April increased by 3.4 percent compared to March, following respective month-on-month decreases of 4.9 percent and 2.4 percent in March and in February this year.
The seasonally adjusted index of iron ore mining production in April this year increased by 0.1 percent, while the country's manganese ore production index increased by 2.3 percent, both compared to March. On the other hand, South Africa's nickel production index in April decreased by 3.2 percent compared to March. On year-on-year basis, in April this year South African iron ore production rose by 3.1 percent, manganese ore production rose by 21.6 percent, while the country's nickel output rose by 0.2 percent.
Furthermore, the seasonally adjusted iron ore sales value at current prices in March this year decreased by 1.7 percent compared to the previous month, to ZAR 5 billion ($490 million), while the seasonally adjusted nickel sales value at current prices decreased by 25.7 percent compared to February to ZAR 372 million ($36 million). The seasonally adjusted manganese ore sales value in March at current prices was ZAR 1 billion ($97.3 million), rising 27 percent month on month. The year-on-year percentage change at current prices in March this year was up 13.3 percent in iron ore sales, down 24.8 percent in nickel sales and up 21.3 percent in manganese ore sales.