The mining sector is still in doldrums even worse than economists had thought. Stats SA data shows mining production decreased by 5.6% year on year in November from an increase of 0.2 % in October.
Analysts had expected mining production to remain stagnant at 0.1% year on year in November.
The sector continues to struggle following the policy uncertainty debacle it suffered in the recent past. The largest negative contributors were iron ore, gold, diamonds and other non-metallic minerals.
The largest positive contributors were Platinum Group Metals and manganese ore.
Economists say the performance of the mining sector has been affected by lower commodity prices, slowing global trade momentum and trade tensions amongst the major economies.
While production in the sector is expected to remain bleak in the short to medium term, it’s expected the resolution of the issues surrounding the Mining Charter could support output growth in the longer term.
