A recovery in the mining sector hinged on Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe’s ability to bring about policy clarity, analysts said on Thursday. After a lacklustre performance in the fourth quarter of 2017, the sector staged a marked recovery in January, with production rising 2.4%, according to figures released by Statistics SA on Thursday. It also revised December’s figure from growth of 0.1% to a contraction of 0.5%. With Mantashe there is renewed optimism that the policy impasse in the mining industry could be tackled. This could unlock much-needed investment in the sector, said NKC economist Elize Kruger. She said the synchronised global economic recovery was expected to remain supportive of the sector. A weaker US dollar would probably help to maintain commodity prices at fairly high levels in 2018. But Mantashe’s success in undoing policy bottlenecks, which continued to crimp investment and activity in the sector, would be key to its growth in 2018, BNP Paribas economi...
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