Mining activity continues downward trend: Stats SA
The manufacturing sector, however, saw a slight recovery.
Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) reports that mining activity contracted for a third consecutive month in July on a year-on-year basis. Meanwhile, the manufacturing sector showed a slight recovery during the same period, having fallen for five consecutive months. In July, mining production fell by 7.5 percent, while manufacturing experienced a marginal increase of 1.1 percent.
The most significant negative contributors to mining production were Platinum Group Metals, coal, and iron ore. Platinum Group Metals saw a sharp decline of 13.5%, dragging overall growth down by 3.2 percentage points. Other industries, including diamonds, nickel, gold, and copper, also experienced weaker performance. On the positive side, chromium ore and manganese production increased year-on-year.
On a month-on-month basis, mining production decreased by 1.9 percent in July compared to June. This followed a slight increase of 0.1 percent in June and a decline of 5.6 percent in May. The manufacturing sector, on the other hand, saw a modest improvement in July, with seasonally adjusted manufacturing production rising by 2.2 percent month on month. This marked the third consecutive month of expansion and was significantly better than the anticipated 2 percent decline.
FNB Senior Economist, Thanda Sithole, commented on the rebound in manufacturing output, stating that it increased by 1.1 percent year-on-year after three consecutive months of annual constriction. This was a welcome improvement compared to the 2 percent decline that economists had expected. Sithole noted that this recovery bodes well for GDP growth, particularly in the third quarter, if this momentum is sustained.
Written by urgent.news from SABC News's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
