Resource News

S. African Mine Output Rises for 1st Time Since July (Update1)

 

March 11 (Bloomberg) — South Africa, the largest producer of platinum and fourth-biggest coal exporter, said output from its mines increased for the first time in six months as demand for commodities picked up along with a global economic recovery.

Production rose 7.7 percent in January from a year earlier, the first gain since July, Statistics South Africa said on its Web site today. Iron ore expanded 24 percent and platinum group metals including palladium and rhodium climbed 17 percent.

Commodity prices posted their biggest annual gain in four decades last year, based on the S&P GSCI Index, as consumption in China made up for weakness in developed nations. Demand will “continue to surprise” as investors pump a record $60 billion into raw materials this year, Barclays Capital said Dec. 10.

Gold output from South Africa fell 18 percent in January from a year earlier, the statistics office said. Diamond output jumped 59 percent, after slumping the previous month, as demand recovered and De Beers, the world’s biggest producer, reopened mines. Coal production rose 1.5 percent from a year earlier…read more at the Bloomberg

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