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 increased by 8.2 percent, while the country's manganese ore production index increased by nine percent, both month on month. In the given month, South Africa's nickel production was up by 10.6 percent month on month.
On year-on-year basis, in May last year South African iron ore production decreased by 5.2 percent, while manganese ore production was up by 29.3 percent. In May last year, the country's nickel output increased by 0.8 percent compared to the same month of 2018.
Furthermore, the country's seasonally adjusted iron ore sales at current prices in May year increased by 8.8 percent compared to the previous month, to ZAR 57.04 billion ($506.5 million), while the seasonally adjusted nickel sales value at current prices was up by 10.8 percent in May compared to April , amounting to ZAR 562.4 million ($40.46 million). South Africa's seasonally adjusted manganese ore sales in November at current prices totaled ZAR 3.97 billion ($285.7 million), up by 2.8 percent month on month.
The year-on-year percentage change at current prices in May was up by 68.6 percent in iron ore sales, down by 7.2 percent in nickel sales and declined by 3.3 percent in manganese ore sales.