According to the preliminary data released by Statistics South Africa, in December last year the seasonally adjusted index of iron ore mining production in South Africa increased by 2.4 percent, while the country's manganese ore production index fell by 17.6 percent, both month on month. In the given month, South Africa's nickel production was up by 20.9 percent month on month.
On year-on-year basis, in December last year South African iron ore production increased by 9.8 percent, while manganese ore production was up by two percent. In December last year, the country's nickel output fell by 6.9 percent compared to the same month of 2018.
Furthermore, the country's seasonally adjusted iron ore sales at current prices in December last year increased by 10.7 percent compared to the previous month, to ZAR 6.64 billion ($446.79 million), while the seasonally adjusted nickel sales value at current prices was down by 29.3 percent in December compared to November amounting to ZAR 607.1 million ($40.85 million). South Africa's seasonally adjusted manganese ore sales in December at current prices totaled ZAR 2.53 billion ($170.36 million), down by 6.4 percent month on month.
The year-on-year percentage change at current prices in December was up by 11.4 percent in iron ore sales, down by 4.3 percent in nickel sales and decreasing by 49 percent in manganese ore sales.