Overall mining index hits two-year low

The composite mining production index maintained by the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) registered its biggest monthly drop in December 2014, according to the agency’s latest sectoral report. Despite a stellar performance from gold production, the agency said the overall mining production index for December 2014 stood at 71.8 points which represent a decline of 13.5 points or 15.9% month on month and a decline of 12.2 points or 14.5% year on year.

“This is the lowest index [value] recorded since 2012. Throughout the reporting period, the mining production index has remained volatile with poor performance in November and December 2014. The poor performance can be attributed mainly to the decline in the production of diamonds and uranium,” the agency said. Meanwhile the average composite mining production index from December 2013 to December 2014 stood at 89.5 points. The production index for diamonds continued its downward trend since November 2014 recording 54.1 points in December 2014, representing a decline of 26.5 points or 32.9% month on month and a decline of 26.2 points or 32.7% year on year. According to the Production Indices for selected minerals like uranium, the this index dropped from 84.8 points recorded in November to 77.7 points recorded in December 2014. “The index has been declining since November 2014,” the NSA added. For copper, the agency reported that the production index increased from 59.1 points in November to 76.1 points in December 2014. “This represents an increase of 17.0 points or 28.7% month on month and a decline of 4.8 points or 5.9% year on year. The zinc production index increased from 112 points in November to 128.7 in December 2014, an increase of 16.6 points month on month and 2.9 points year on year. Meanwhile the agency said the gold production index had its highest reading since 2013. For December 2014, this index stood at 127.6 points.