South Africa Mining Output Falls More Than Expected

Mining production in South Africa plunged by 7.5% year-on-year in July 2026, after an upwardly revised 4.3% drop in June and worse than analysts' forecasts of a 2.8% slump. The latest decline extended South Africa’s mining downturn to three consecutive months and was the sharpest since February 2025. The industry continues to face structural constraints, including logistics bottlenecks, high operating costs, ageing mines and weaker demand for some commodities like iron ore and coal. Output declined across almost all categories, with platinum group metals (PGMs) (-13.5%), coal (-7.5%) and iron ore (-8%) making the largest negative contributions. On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, mining production shrank by 1.9%, after a downwardly revsied 0.1% increase in the month before. Mining production slipped by 5.5% in the three months ended July 2026 compared with the previous three months.

Mining production in South Africa fell by 4.4% year-on-year in June 2026, following a downwardly revised 5.1% drop in May. The largest negative contributors were PGMs, down 8.4% and weighing 2.4 percentage points, followed by coal (-6.6%; -1.7 points) and iron ore (-10.2%; -1.5 points). Conversely, output increased for manganese ore (13.3% vs 10.1%); chromium ore (8.6% vs 10.3%); gold (6.2% vs -4.4%) and building materials (2.5% vs -8.8%). On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, mining production rose by 0.3%, rebounding from a 5.2% decline in the preceding month. Mining activity shrank by 2.7% in the second quarter of 2026 compared with the first quarter of 2026.

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.