According to the preliminary data released by Statistics South Africa (SSA), in January this year South Africa's manufacturing output decreased by 2.5 percent compared to the same month of last year
In January, the production of basic iron and steel, non-ferrous metal products, metal products and machinery decreased by 10.2 percent on year-on-year basis. In the given month, the production of basic iron and steel products in South Africa fell by 19.1 percent, while the production of structural metal products rose by 3.8 percent, both on year-on-year basis. As compared with December, in January this year the production of basic iron and steel products in South Africa decreased by 8.8 percent and production of structural metal products grew by 0.1 percent.
For basic iron and steel products, the estimated seasonally adjusted sales of manufactured products (at current prices) in January this year increased by 4.5 percent month on month, amounting to ZAR 8.5 billion ($562.93 million).