On 12 December, Statistics South Africa (StatsSA) released a report on the mining industry.

Mining production in South Africa increased by 3.9 per cent in October compared to a year ago. This is reported by
Pretoria News, a partner of TV BRICS.

StatsSA chief statistician Juan-Pierre Terblanche said platinum group metals (PGMs), manganese and chrome ores, as well as gold, copper and nickel made the biggest contribution to the overall growth.

“PGM production grew by 16.9 per cent, manganese ores by 8.9 per cent and chrome ores by 13.8 per cent. Gold, copper and nickel also showed significant growth in October. Coal production was unchanged from a year ago,” Terblanche reported.

StatsSAdirector of industry statistics Nikolai Claassen said six of the ten manufacturing sectors performed strongly in October:

“Manufacturers of petroleum products, chemicals, rubber and plastics posted growth of 7.8 per cent, while output in the automotive sector increased by 6 per cent. Other sectors that showed positive growth included metallurgy and engineering products, electrical engineering, woodworking, paper, and furniture and other goods manufacturers,” Claassen said.