Star 2022-05-13

SOUTH Africa’s economy ended the first quarter on a sour note as the effects of rotational power cuts and geopolitical tension took a toll on manufacturing and mining activity. Data from Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) yesterday showed that both mining and manufacturing production contracted significantly in March as the war in Ukraine constrained global supply chains. Stats SA said mining production contracted for the second month in a row and fell by 9.3 percent in March from a year ago following a downwardly revised 5.8 percent fall in February. This was the steepest decline in mining activity since November 2020 when production volumes declined by 9.8 percent. Stats SA principal survey statistician Juan-Pierre Terblanche said mining output was dragged down by lower output levels from gold, iron…

AS TAKATSO Consortium yesterday welcomed Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana’s recent public support for its acquisition of a 51 percent interest in SAA, labour unions are wanting answers from the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa), saying the deal clearly violates the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA). This as South Africa is reeling from the revelations contained in the Zondo Commission with state capture leaving state-owned enterprises on their knees. Takatso said yesterday: “With the support of the National Treasury and the Department of Public Enterprises, this brings us a step closer to reaching financial close of this milestone transaction in the aviation sector. We remain committed to a strong partnership with the government and to see this transaction concluded successfully. “The proposed transaction has been structured in a manner…

THE MINERAL and precious metals boom lost lustre yesterday after a brace of indices on the JSE fell sharply as they moved in sympathy with stock markets globally that had been driven lower on fears of lower growth. The declines, which saw the share prices of some of South Africa’s leading miners slump, was mirrored in the international price of copper, which fell to a more than seven-month low – the price is often seen as a benchmark for metals price trends and global industrial activity. The US had reported stronger- than-expected inflation a day before, forcing the Nasdaq index down 3 percent, while the S&P 500 marked a fourth decline in five sessions. The JSE All Share Index was down 3.01 percent early yesterday afternoon. The price…

SOUTH African Breweries (SAB) has committed to the beer market that it will bring its Prospecton brewery back to full production capacity within two months in a bid to meet the high demand. Production at SAB’s Prospecton plant came to a halt last month after the brewery was submerged in 1-metre deep water during the devastating floods that hit KwaZulu-Natal (KZN). SAB chief executive Richard Rivett- Carnac yesterday admitted that supply of certain beer brands had been constrained in and around Durban due to slow production. Rivett-Carnac said they had to bring in the group’s other six breweries across the country to continue to plug in the supply gap created by the temporary stoppage at Prospecton. “Supply in the areas that are typically supplied by the Prospecton brewery had some…

ILLEGAL mining is a critical challenge in the South African mining and minerals industry. In response to this challenge, earlier this year Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe published the Artisanal and Small Scale-Mining Policy 2022. The policy seeks to formalise the largely informal artisanal and small-scale mining industry. It recognises, among others, the challenges posed by illegal mining activities, also commonly known as “zama zamas”, which have resulted in more than R70 billion per annum of the national revenue being lost due to illegal mining in the gold sector alone. These incidences of illegal mining are reportedly on the rise throughout the country. Communities are directly affected by the illegal mining in terms of environmental degradation, health risks and gang violence emanating from rival illegal miners.…

WOODFIBRE products group Sappi produced its highest-ever earnings before interest, tax depreciation, and amortisation (Ebitda), despite the damage caused to its South Africa operations by the floods in KwaZulu-Natal and the global impact of Covid-19. Chief executive Steve Binnie said in a telephone interview yesterday that the “remarkable bounce-back” since the lows of the Covid-19 pandemic two years before, coupled with the prospect of strong profitability for the rest of the year, attested to the resilience of the group. Sappi’s share price increased 2.2 percent to R61.61 on the JSE yesterday afternoon, on a day when the share prices of other commodity companies fell heavily. A $28 million (R450m) special expense was expected to be reported in the third quarter to end-June arising out of damages from the…