South Africa's mining production fell 7.5% y/y in February 2019 compared to a 3.3% fall the previous month – this is the fourth consecutive contraction. This is the largest fall in production since March 2016.
A bright spot was PGMs rising 17.8% y/y in February, adding 2.8 percentage due to global demand for palladium in the automobile market continues to support the sector.
Overall, the mining sector has been plagued with slowing global growth (particularly in China), strike action and rotational load-shedding.
February manufacturing production also slowed by 0.6% y/y.
Petroleum, chemical products, rubber and plastic products rose by 2.9% y/y in February compared to a 1.2% increase the previous month.
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