Falling Platinum Group Metals (PGM) production continues to be a drag on SA's mineral output with local mining production shrinking 7.7% year on year in April, according to Stats SA’s latest data.
PGMs are essential and precious metals which include platinum, palladium, rhodium, iridium, osmium and ruthenium.
This comes after seasonally adjusted mining production shrank 4.5% in the first quarter compared to the last three months of 2024.
PGMs emerged as the primary driver of April's drop in output with production down by more than 24% year on year, shaving 8 percentage points off the headline figure.
The past year has seen PGM producers cutting back on production in response to an uncertain demand environment and low prices as the growth of electric vehicles weighs on the automotive demand for platinum.
Further pressure came from the gold and coal mining sectors, where production shrank 2.5% and 1.7% year on year respectively.
The decline was somewhat offset by an increase in iron ore production.
In its latest annual results, Kumba, the continent’s largest iron ore producer, said it was encouraged by early signs of progress made by Transnet, which helped boost its sales volumes in the quarter ended March.
Additionally, amid record gold prices, SA’s mineral sales at current prices increased by 0.7% year on year in April.
Sales of gold soared 57.6% year on year, adding 9.4 percentage points to the overall number, while manganese sales were up by two thirds compared to April last year.
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