According to the preliminary data released by Statistics South Africa, in March of this year the seasonally adjusted index of iron ore mining production in South Africa decreased by 6.2 percent, while the country's manganese ore production index decreased by 1.4 percent, both compared to the previous month. On the other hand, in March South Africa's nickel production increased by 34.3 percent compared to February.
In the first quarter of this year, South African iron ore production increased by 0.2 percent, manganese ore production decreased by 0.4 percent, while the country's nickel output remained nearly stable, all compared to the previous quarter.
Furthermore, the country's seasonally adjusted iron ore sales at current prices in February this year decreased by 37.6 percent compared to the previous month, to ZAR 3.9 billion ($330.77 million), while the seasonally adjusted nickel sales value at current prices decreased by 18.9 percent in February compared to January, amounting to ZAR 699.1 million ($59,29 million). South Africa's seasonally adjusted manganese ore sales in February at current prices totaled ZAR 1.43 billion ($121.7 million), up 15.4 percent month on month.
The year-on-year percentage change at current prices in February this year was down seven percent in iron ore sales, was down 0.5 percent in nickel sales and was up 0.6 percent in manganese ore sales.