According to the latest data released by Statistics South Africa, in December last year the country's producer price index (PPI) for the basic iron and steel industry increased by 4.5 percent compared to November and was up 14.8 percent compared to December 2015.
Meanwhile, in November the PPI for exported basic iron and steel in South Africa increased by 6.5 percent compared to October and was down by three percent compared to the same month of 2015, while the index for exported products of iron and steel remained stable month on month and was up 19.4 percent year on year. In addition, in South Africa the PPI for imported basic metals in November last year decreased by 1.2 percent month on month and was down 9.1 percent year on year.