Mining production in South Africa fell 1.4 per cent year-on-year during March, new figures reveal.

It follows a 2.8 per cent increase in output during February, which was driven by platinum group metals (pgms).

The drop in March means seasonally adjusted mining production for the first three months of 2011 increased by just 0.4 per cent on the previous quarter, according to data from Statistics South Africa.

Pgms contributed to the rise more than other metals, accounting for a 2.6 percentage point increase.

Actual mining production rose 2.1 per cent in the first quarter of 2011 compared with the first quarter of 2010.

A year-on-year decrease of 1.4 per cent was recorded in March, following a 4.5 per cent increase in February 2011.

For the three months ending February, the seasonally adjusted value of mineral sales was up 8.4 per cent.

Again, the main driver of this was pgms, which contributed 3.6 percentage points.

The actual value of mineral sales at current prices in the three months ended February 2011 increased by 31.1 per cent compared with the same three-month period in 2010.

Major contributors to this increase were iron ore, which accounted for 11.8 percentage points, and pgms, which added 7.2 percentage points.

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Mining production down 1.4% in March (12/05/11)
 

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