Platinum Heavyweights Meet in South Africa

Bloomberg reported that the CEOs of the world’s biggest platinum companies, leaders of other South African mines, union heads and South Africa’s deputy president met to try to smooth over union rivalry that has caused unrest — including deaths — over the past year.

As quoted in the market news:

Conflict has surrounded competition between the National Union of Mineworkers, an ally of the ruling African National Congress, and the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union. The AMCU is now the biggest representative of employees at the world’s three largest platinum companies, all of which have the bulk of their operations in South Africa.

Mining strikes last year caused almost 15 billion rand ($1.5 billion) in lost output and shaved about 0.5 percentage point off gross domestic product, according to government figures. Unrest has cut a further 0.3 percentage point off growth this year, President Jacob Zuma said yesterday.

Click here to read the full Bloomberg report.