According to the preliminary data released by Statistics South Africa, in June this year the country's mining production decreased by 6.2 percent year on year, while the seasonally adjusted mining production index in June decreased by three percent compared to May, following the month-on-month increases of 4.2 percent in May and 2.5 percent in April.
Seasonally adjusted mining production in South Africa increased by a slight margin of 0.1 percent in the second quarter this year as compared with the previous quarter. The main contributor to the increase was iron ore with a 9.6 percent increase in the second quarter over the first quarter of the year.
The seasonally adjusted index of iron ore mining production in June this year increased by 7.6 percent, while the country's manganese ore production index decreased by 9.6 percent, both compared to May. On the other hand, South Africa's nickel production index fell by 6.2 percent in June compared to May. On year-on-year basis, in June this year South African iron ore production rose by 11.4 percent, manganese ore production increased by 11.1 percent, while the country's nickel output decreased by 3.4 percent.
Furthermore, the seasonally adjusted iron ore sales value at current prices in May this year increased by 2.7 percent compared to the previous month, to ZAR 4.9 billion ($488 million), while the seasonally adjusted nickel sales value at current prices increased by 12.3 percent in May compared to April, rising to ZAR 491 million ($49 million). The seasonally adjusted manganese ore sales value in May at current prices was ZAR 1.1 billion ($112 million), rising 8.7 percent month on month. The year-on-year percentage change at current prices in May this year was down 0.4 percent in iron ore sales, down 20 percent in nickel sales and up 28.4 percent in manganese ore sales.