South Africa Mining Activity Suffers Surprise Setback

2026-07-14 09:48 By Luisa Carvalho 1 min. read

Mining production in South Africa slipped by 5.4% year-on-year in May 2026, following a downwardly revised 8% jump in April and worse than the expected 1.5% rise.

The decline marked the first contraction in mining activity in six months and the steepest since February 2025.

Iron ore was the largest negative contributor, declining 12.7% and subtracting 2.1 percentage points, followed by coal (-6.1%; -1.5 percentage points) and platinum group metals (PGMs), which fell 4.4%.

Also, output decreased sharply for diamonds (-17.8%); other metallic minerals (-17.6%); nickel (-16.5%); copper (-14.3%) and other non-metallic minerals (-8.9%), while rising for manganese ore (8.7%) and chromium ore (8.5%).

On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, mining output dropped by 5.2% in May, the most since November 2025, after a downwardly revised 3.1% advance in the month before.

Mining production shrank by 1.7% in the three months ended May 2026 compared with the previous three months.



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South Africa Mining Activity Suffers Surprise Setback
Mining production in South Africa slipped by 5.4% year-on-year in May 2026, following a downwardly revised 8% jump in April and worse than the expected 1.5% rise. The decline marked the first contraction in mining activity in six months and the steepest since February 2025. Iron ore was the largest negative contributor, declining 12.7% and subtracting 2.1 percentage points, followed by coal (-6.1%; -1.5 percentage points) and platinum group metals (PGMs), which fell 4.4%. Also, output decreased sharply for diamonds (-17.8%); other metallic minerals (-17.6%); nickel (-16.5%); copper (-14.3%) and other non-metallic minerals (-8.9%), while rising for manganese ore (8.7%) and chromium ore (8.5%). On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, mining output dropped by 5.2% in May, the most since November 2025, after a downwardly revised 3.1% advance in the month before. Mining production shrank by 1.7% in the three months ended May 2026 compared with the previous three months.
2026-07-14
South Africa Mining Activity Rises Faster in April
Mining production in South Africa climbed by 8.2% year-on-year in April 2026, following a 2.5% rise in the prior month, mainly due to a weak base of comparison. This marked the fifth consecutive month of growth in mining activity, largely supported by PGMs (+36.5%), manganese ore (+19%) and chromium ore (+17.5%). By contrast, output declined for coal (-5.8%); copper (-13.1%), other metallic minerals (-16%); diamonds (-17.1%) and other non-metallic minerals (-4.8%). On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, mining output rose by 3.3%, after a downwardly revised 4.8% decline in the preceding month. Mining production increased by 2.4% in the three months ended April 2026 compared with the previous three months.
2026-06-11
South Africa Mining Output Growth Misses Forecasts
Mining production in South Africa rose by 2.5% year-on-year in March 2026, following a 9.7% jump in the prior month and below market forecasts of a 4.1% advance. This marked the slowest mining growth in the current four-month stretch, with activity easing across key segments including PGMs (10.5% vs 52.3% in February), manganese ore (14.4% vs 27.8%) and nickel (10.5% vs 29.6%). Moreover, production fell for copper (-35.8% vs -42.7%); other non-metallic minerals (-16.8% vs -13.2%); coal (-9.6% vs -6.7%); other metallic minerals (-9.5% vs -0.1%); diamonds (-8.5% vs 13.1%) and iron ore (-2.7% vs -12.3%). Conversely, gold output picked up (17.1% vs 12.8%). On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, mining production slipped by 5.1%, after an upwardly revised 3% rise in the prior month. Mining output increased by 0.6% in the first quarter of 2026 compared with the fourth quarter of 2025.
2026-05-14