South African mining production grew weaker in March

CAPE TOWN (Scrap Monster) : The preliminary data released by the Statistics South Africa indicates that the mining production of the country declined during the month of March.

The South African mining production during March has decreased by 3.5% year-on-year. The seasonally adjusted mining production index too registered a drop of 3.5% compared to February. However, the country’s seasonally adjusted mining production during the first quarter of the year registered an increase of 6.1% in comparison with Q4 2012.

The country’s iron-ore output during March improved by 10% year-on-year. There was a rise of 15.2% in manganese ore production during March this year when compared to same month previous year. The March nickel output also has increased by 13.8% year-on-year.

The country’s seasonally adjusted iron ore mining production during Q1 2013 rose by 11.2% in comparison with Q4 2012. The seasonally adjusted manganese ore production improved by 19.8% quarter-on-quarter. However, nickel production during the first quarter of the year dropped by 8.8% compared to the previous quarter.

The seasonally adjusted iron-ore sales value in February was $532 million, 2.6% lower than the previous month. The seasonally adjusted manganese ore sales value was $97 million, lower by 27.5% month-on-month. The seasonally adjusted nickel sales value in February was $56 million, lower by 2.2% month-on-month.