Output of platinum group metals sank to their lowest levels in May as the five-month-long strike by the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union halted production on the platinum belt.
Production of the metals plunged 49% from a year earlier as total mining output fell 6.5%, Juan-Pierre Terblanche, a spokesman for Stats SA, said.
That was the biggest decrease in platinum output since the agency started keeping records in July 1994.
The strike by more than 70000 miners at Anglo Platinum, Impala Platinum and Lonmin cost the companies R23.9-billion in revenue and workers R10.6-billion in wages by the time it ended on June 24. The stoppage pushed the economy into contraction in the first three months of the year as production plunged. South Africa accounts for more than two-thirds of global mined supply of the metal.
The performance of the mining industry will probably remain volatile in the months ahead, Nedbank economists said.
"The persistent weakness will have a negative impact on second-quarter gross domestic product growth," they said.
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