According to the preliminary data released by Statistics South Africa, in April this year the seasonally adjusted index of iron ore mining production in South Africa decreased by 0.6 percent, while the country's manganese ore production index declined by 9.7 percent, both compared to the previous month. In the given month, South Africa's nickel production fell by 15.4 percent month on month.
On year-on-year basis, in April this year South African iron ore production increased by 5.2 percent, manganese ore production rose by 12.6 percent, while the country's nickel output decreased by 18.5 percent.
Furthermore, the country's seasonally adjusted iron ore sales at current prices in April decreased by 8.3 percent compared to the previous month, to ZAR 3.61 billion ($290.86 million), while the seasonally adjusted nickel sales value at current prices fell by 4.5 percent in April compared to March, amounting to ZAR 638.8 million ($51.46 million). South Africa's seasonally adjusted manganese ore sales in April at current prices totaled ZAR 1.25 billion ($100.7 million), down 12.13 percent month on month.
The year-on-year percentage change at current prices in April this year was down 38.7 percent in iron ore sales, fell by 16.6 percent in nickel sales and was down by 9.2 percent in manganese ore sales.