According to the preliminary data released by Statistics South Africa, in May this year the seasonally adjusted index of iron ore mining production in South Africa decreased by 3.1 percent, while the country's manganese ore production index fell by 5.9 percent, both month on month. In the given month, South Africa's nickel production showed a slight increase of 0.4 percent month on month.
On year-on-year basis, in May this year South African iron ore production decreased by 0.4 percent, while manganese ore production was down by 23 percent. In May this year, the country's nickel output fell by six percent compared to the same month of 2017.
Furthermore, the country's seasonally adjusted iron ore sales at current prices in May this year increased by one percent compared to the previous month, to ZAR 3.83 billion ($285.47 million), while the seasonally adjusted nickel sales value at current prices was up by 92.3 percent in May compared to April, amounting to ZAR 670.7 million ($50.05 million). South Africa's seasonally adjusted manganese ore sales in May at current prices totaled ZAR 4.09 billion ($305.4 million), up 12.9 percent month on month.
The year-on-year percentage change at current prices in May was up by 19.9 percent in iron ore sales, increased by 11 percent in nickel sales and rose by 94.2 percent in manganese ore sales.