Mining production in South Africa shrank 1.1% year-on-year in March 2019, following an upwardly revised 8.1% fall in February and much less than an expected 6 percent slump. It is the smallest decline in mining activity since last October when it rose 0.6%. Output fell for gold (-17.7% vs -20.6% in February); iron ore (-1.6% vs -20.7%); chromium ore (-6.4% vs -1.9%); platinum group metals (PGM) (-0.5% vs 17.8%); building materials (-4.6% vs -6.1%) and other non-metallic minerals (-8.1% vs -11.6%). Conversely, output grew for copper (24.6% vs 42.1%); manganese ore (5.7% vs -16.9%); nickel (12.7% vs 20.2%); other metallic minerals (14.9% vs 8.4%); diamonds (3% vs -48.2%) and coal (5.7% vs -2%). On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, mining production increased 3.8% compared to an upwardly revised 2.3% decline in the previous month. Mining Production in South Africa averaged -0.09 percent from 1981 until 2019, reaching an all time high of 23.20 percent in October of 2013 and a record low of -17.40 percent in March of 2016.
Mining Production in South Africa is expected to be -1.82 percent by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate Mining Production in South Africa to stand at -1.40 in 12 months time. In the long-term, the South Africa Mining Production is projected to trend around 1.20 percent in 2020, according to our econometric models.