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BL Premium reports that SA’s mining industry shed almost 7,000 jobs in the second quarter, reflecting a wave of restructurings and retrenchments over the past year as falling prices of platinum group metals (PGMs), rising input costs and logistical challenges continued to weigh on mining companies.
The sharp drop in mining jobs in the past quarter, more than double that of the first three months of the year, took total employment in the industry to 472,000 at end-June, down 1.5% from the midpoint of last year. The implied loss of nearly 10,000 mining jobs in the first half of the year came after job cuts early this year and towards the end of last year, Minerals Council SA chief economist Hugo Pienaar noted. “Though there was already talk of significant mining job losses in the second half of 2023, the formal processes were only concluded earlier this year,” Pienaar pointed out, with the adverse impact on jobs now being reflected in the data. The PGM sector has come under huge pressure from low commodity prices as the rise of electric vehicles brought future demand for the metals, which are primarily used in internal-combustion engines, into question. “Given that the PGM sector is by far the biggest employer in mining – contributing 183,000 of the 479,000 total mining jobs in 2023 – the ongoing uncertainty about future vehicle demand for PGMs remains a big concern,” Pienaar said. On top of declining commodity prices, SA mining companies have been under pressure from rising power costs, which emerged as the primary driver of mining input cost inflation in recent months. Pienaar said Eskom’s application to increase electricity tariffs by more than 36% from April 2025 would be untenable, both for energy-intensive sectors such as mining and for households. Logistics also continue to be a constraint on SA’s mining industry, particularly for iron ore and coal mining companies.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Jacob Webster at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)
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