Resumen de South African chromite sales rebound in May
An increase in monthly exports as well as domestic sales took the country's chromite sales upwards again. Separately, Chinese chromite imports increased in July.
Sales of South African high-purity chromite rebounded in May after several months of constant decline, on the back of improvement in both exports and domestic trade, latest data provided to IM shows.
Total sales of chromite with 44-48% Cr2O3 content from South Africa - the largest global producer - had been gradually declining after a peak reached in August last year, but appear to have now bottomed out, according to figures from the South African Department of Mineral Resources.
Exports rose to almost 90,000 tonnes in May, marking a 17% increase on the previous month, when foreign trade was below 77,000 tonnes. In March, exports had fallen below 54,000 tonnes.
Domestic sales also improved month-on-month, surging from a mere 17,414 tonnes in March to over 62,500 tonnes in May - a 259% growth.
The uptrend in trade brought total sales for the month, including exports and domestic, to 152,443 tonnes. The figure marks a new high since August 2016.
Total sales value in May, including domestic market and exports, stood at South African rand (Zar) 385.4m ($30.1m).
