South Africa Mining Production Falls

Bloomberg reported South Africa’s economic growth in the first quarter will probably be slower than forecast after weak mining and manufacturing production, and retail sales data, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said.

As quoted in the market news:

Mining production fell an average of 9.4 percent in the first three months of the year while manufacturing output declined for the first time in eight months in March, contracting an annual 2.7 percent, according to the statistics agency. Retail salesdropped 1.2 percent in the first quarter compared with the previous three months, it said on May 16.

A strike in January shut operations at Impala Platinum (IMP) Holdings Ltd.’s Rustenburg mine for two weeks. The company is the world’s second-biggest producer of the metal.

Click here to read the full Bloomberg report.