Annual mining sector prices continue to increase – NSA

Mining and quarrying output prices have increased by 7.4% in the 12 months preceding June this year, continuing a general upward trend.

This is according to the Namibia Producer Price Index Bulletin for the third quarter of 2024, published by the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) on Thursday.

The producer price index measures the average change over time in the selling prices received by domestic producers for their output.

“The sector’s year-over-year growth was mostly bolstered by robust results in gold (27.8%) and uranium (26.0%),” the bulletin reads.

Diamond prices on the other hand have experienced a decrease of 8.5% since the third quarter of 2023, according to the report.

On a quarter-to-quarter basis, the mining and quarrying sector experienced an overall decline of 1.5%.

“This is mostly due to the moderate reduction in uranium prices (-1.2%) and the steep decline in salt prices (-16.2%),” notes the NSA.

Overall production shows a moderate decrease, both quarter-on-quarter (-1.0%) and year-on-year (-0.7%).

“This suggests that the overall production sector experienced a slight contraction in pricing, although the decline is not significant.”

Output prices in manufacturing declined by 3.7% on a year-on-year basis. The decline was significantly influenced by a large drop in manufacturing of other non-metallic mineral products (-18.7%), especially cement prices. A decrease in cutting and polishing of diamonds (-1.4%), as well as a modest decline in meat processing (-0.8%), also influenced output prices, according to the NSA.

Output prices in the manufacture of dairy products increased by 40% in the last quarter. During the same period, output prices for the manufacturing of rubber and plastic products increased by 27.8%, and those for grain mill products increased by 7.7%.

The water supply sector showed a modest increase of 0.7% year on year.

“This signals mild price adjustments rather than significant fluctuations, underscoring the sector’s stability, with only a slight upward movement in prices,” notes the NSA bulletin.

Meanwhile, electricity prices remained stable, with no change recorded over the past 12 months.