Pretoria News 2022-07-15

THE MINING sector could be the Achilles heel to the expected economic recovery in South Africa this year as output remains sluggish, pressured by ongoing power cuts and a three-month strike in the gold sector. This comes as South African mining output struggled to fully recover in May, firmly remaining on a contractionary trajectory even though it fell less than expected. Data from Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) yesterday showed that mining production shrank by 7.8 percent year-on-year in May following a downwardly revised 14.8 percent slump in April. Though this production reading was better than market forecasts of a 10.8 percent plunge, it marked the fourth consecutive month of a downturn in mining activity. Stats SA’s principal survey statistician, Juan-Pierre Terblanche, said production was driven lower…

FINANCIAL resilience among South African households had improved consistently since 2019, but was threatened by higher interest rates, according to a key index that measures data on household wealth. The Altron FinTech Household Resilience Index (AFHRI) for the first quarter of 2022, released yesterday, showed there had been a steady improvement of South African households’ ability to repay debt since 2019. However, “although the ratio of household income to debt costs has improved considerably since 2019, a negative reading has been recorded since the fourth quarter of last year. With interest rates on the rise, this could weigh on the AFHRI for the rest of the year,” said economist Dr Roelof Botha, who compiles the index on a quarterly basis. The AFHRI is commissioned by Altron FinTech to provide more…

ANGLO American has partnered with Japan’s Nippon Steel Corporation to accelerate the transition to lower-carbon steel-making to help drive emissions reduction. The group, which supplies coal and iron ore to steel customers around the world, said it signed a memorandum of understanding to work with Nippon Steel. Nippon Steel is engaged in steel manufacturing, engineering, chemical and materials, and system solutions. As part of this agreement, the two companies will research ways to optimise premium lump ore produced by Anglo American’s mines to decrease emissions via the traditional blast furnace steel-making process. The project will also focus on studying the use of Anglo Ameri- can’s iron ore in the more carbon-efficient direct reduction iron (DRI) steel-making method. “DRI is estimated to generate significantly lower emissions than the more prevalent steel-making…

THE BANKSERVAfrica Economic Transactions Index (Beti) moderated in June 2022, after a strong equivalent reading the month before, which could be an early sign of further and impending strain in the economy, Shergeran Naidoo, BankservAfrica’s head of stakeholder engagements said yesterday. The Beti for June 2022 moderated to 5.3 percent higher than a year ago, which was down significantly from the 9.4 percent increase in May 2022. Following revisions for seasonal factors, the actual index level moderated to 136.7 points in June, after an all-time high of 143 points (revised lower from 143.5 points) reached in May. Independent economist Elize Kruger said the moderation was not unexpected in light of the many headwinds in the local economy in recent weeks – from recurring load shedding…

PEPCO, the pan-European discount retailer and Steinhoff subsidiary, said its store expansion programme continued in the third quarter and it was on track to deliver on an upgraded target of 450 new stores in the 2022 financial year. Steinhoff International Holdings’ share price increased 4.03 percent to close at R2.58on the JSE yesterday – it is still a far cry from the R5.55 that it traded at on January 18, with the price having fell steadily since. The owner of the Pepco and Dealz brands in Europe and Poundland in the UK, said in a third quarter trading update that new store openings, the biggest driver of value creation in the group, had continued across all brands in the quarter to June 30, with 350 new stores added so…

Pan African Resources achieved record annual gold production while strengthening its balance sheet in its year to June 30. In an operational update for the period, the JSE-listed company said yesterday that gold output increased by 2 percent to 205 459 ounces compared to 201 777 ounces in the prior year. The 2023 annual production guidance was revised to 200 000 ounces, 5 percent higher than the initial guidance of 195 000 ounces. Net senior debt was lowered by 71.5 percent to $9.6 million (R165.8m) compared to the previous year’s $33.7m. Pan African Resources said it also strengthened its balance sheet, despite the payment of a record dividend, incurring significant growth and sustaining capital expenditure. Chief executive Cobus Loots said: “We are…