Load-shedding, fuel costs cause turnover slump
[caption id="attachment_89395" align="alignright" width="300"] DARK DAY: Load-shedding has caused a huge turnover drop in seven key industries in South Africa, including mining and trade -[/caption]
LOAD-SHEDDING and rising fuel costs contributed to the biggest turnover drop since 2010 in seven of South Africa’s eight key industries this year.
Stats SA’s quarterly financial statistics released yesterday for the first quarter of this year saw turnover for the eight industries drop by 5.2% from R2trillion to R1.9-trillion.
Only personal services, which covers items like private medical services, saw an increase in turnover of 2.8%.
Mining, manufacturing, electricity, construction, trade, transport and business services all recorded drops.
Trade, which saw a massive drop of 34.4% from the previous quarter, was mostly a victim of seasonal changes – with a decline in sales after the busy Christmas period, Stats SA said.
However, manager for Private Sector Statistics at Stats SA Krisseelan Govinden said the sector was very dependent on electricity and this had contributed to the decline.
The impact of load-shedding could also be seen in the mining and manufacturing industries, as production levels fell. They recorded turnover decreases of 6.5% and 28% respectively.
“Mining was affected by decreased production as well as the fluctuations in the prices of metals such as iron ore and platinum and exchange rate fluctuations, “Govinden said.
He said the transport industry, which recorded an 8.7% decline in turnover, had been hurt by fluctuating fuel prices.
The electricity industry, which reported a 2.2% decline, had been impacted by loadshedding, Govinden said, but the major contributor to the decline was the lower demand over the summer months.
A similar seasonal downward trend was seen in Stats SA’s quarterly financial statistics for municipalities, which were also released yesterday.
Electricity sales by municipalities also declined by around 3.8%. These sales still made up more than a quarter (25.8%) of municipal revenue streams between January and March this year. -Bianca Capazorio
