December mining production up 12%

Strong increases were recorded in some sectors of the mining industry in December last year. Image: Cooldesign Free Digital Photos

Mining production rose 4% in volume terms last year compared with a 3.2% decline in 2012.

The highest positive growth rates came from building materials (39.9%)‚ iron ore (32.3%)‚ chromium ore (29.9%) and manganese ore (24.6%).

The main contributors to the 12% increase were iron ore‚ which contributed 5.8 percentage points; platinum group metals‚ which contributed 3.6 percentage points; and gold‚ which contributed 1.8 percentage points.

Seasonally adjusted mining production increased by 4.3% in the fourth quarter of last year compared with the previous quarter‚ with the main contributor being iron ore‚ which contributed 3.3 percentage points.

Mineral sales rose by 7.9% y/y in November last year. The highest positive growth rates were recorded for "other" metallic minerals (76.6%)‚ iron ore (60.3%)‚ nickel (37.9%) and chromium ore (34%).

The major contributors to the 7.9% increase were iron ore‚ which contributed 6.8 percentage points and PGMs‚ with a 4.8-percentage-point contribution. Gold‚ which fell 8 percentage points‚ was a significant negative contributor.

Seasonally adjusted mineral sales at current prices decreased by 2.7% in November 2013 compared with October 2013 following month-on-month changes of 3.3% last October and -8.0% last September.