FX.co ★ South Africa Mining Output Bounces Back in December

South Africa’s mining production grew by 2.5% year-on-year in December 2025, rebounding from a downwardly revised 2.4% contraction in November. The strongest positive contributions came from manganese ore (up 40.4% vs 16.7% previously) and iron ore (up 19% vs a 7.6% decline). Output also rose sharply for other metallic minerals (27.3% vs 14.9%), nickel (26.6% vs 3.2%), and chromium ore (15.5% vs 0.3%).

On a seasonally adjusted month-on-month basis, however, mining production fell by 1.2% in December, following a downwardly revised 5.7% drop in November. For the full year, total mining production in 2025 was 0.1% higher than in 2024.