South Africa gold output shrinks for 7th month in May

Gold production in South Africa was reported to have contracted 9% year-on-year in May, or at a much faster rate compared to the prior month (-1.7% YoY).

May has been the seventh straight month of output decline, while the pace has been the sharpest since January.

That performance contributed negatively to the volume of mining production by 1.3 percentage points, according to data by Statistics South Africa.

The nation’s total mining production remained flat year-on-year in May, which followed a revised up 1.4% surge in the preceding month.

Gold production accounts for about 16% of South Africa’s total mining output.

The South African Rand was 0.22% firmer on the day against the US Dollar, with the USD/ZAR currency pair last trading at 18.0805, with focus now setting on US CPI inflation figures for June.