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 5.7 percent, while the country's manganese ore production index fell by 2.3 percent, both month on month. In the given month, South Africa's nickel production was up by 7.5 percent month on month.
On year-on-year basis, in December last year South African iron ore production decreased by 14.3 percent, while manganese ore production was up by 8.3 percent. In December last year, the country's nickel output rose by 2.1 percent compared to the same month of 2017.
Furthermore, the country's seasonally adjusted iron ore sales at current prices in December last year decreased by 10.2 percent compared to the previous month, to ZAR 5.96 billion ($423 million), while the seasonally adjusted nickel sales value at current prices was up by 16.7 percent in December compared to November amounting to ZAR 634.6 million ($45.05 million). South Africa's seasonally adjusted manganese ore sales in December at current prices totaled ZAR 4.6 billion ($326.6 million), up by 7.2 percent month on month.
The year-on-year percentage change at current prices in December was up by 41.3 percent in iron ore sales, down by 1.8 percent in nickel sales and rose by 44.8 percent in manganese ore sales.