De Beers gets some sparkle as PPC cement sales fall 3%

DE Beers, the world’s biggest diamond producer, sold $540million’s worth of the gems (about R8.8-billion) in its first sale of the year. The total was more than double the $248-million it sold in the last sale of 2015, the company said.

THE Reserve Bank’s leading business cycle indicator rose 0.1% month on month in November due to an uptick in both the number of new passenger vehicles sold and hours worked in the manufacturing sector.

NIGERIA was open to an amicable out-ofcourt settlement with MTN over a $3.9billion fine imposed on Africa’s largest mobile operator, a top regulatory official said. This represents a thaw in the threemonth standoff between MTN and Africa’s biggest economy.

SOUTH Africa has moved from 67th to 61st place on Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index 2015‚ indicating that perceptions of the extent of corruption in the country are stabilising.

SOUTH Africa’s biggest cement maker, PPC, which is in the process of buying ready-mix concrete firm 3Q Mahuma Concrete, reported a 3% fall in quarterly sales, citing weak demand and tough competition.

PRODUCER inflation accelerated to 4.8% year on year in December from 4.3% in November, Stats SA data showed. On a month-onmonth basis, prices at the factory gate were up 0.2%, against a 0.1% rise the previous month.

ESKOM said it would revise its offshore funding strategy after bond yields rose, indicating higher interest rates for future borrowing. The power utility has been downgraded to junk by Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s Investors Service.

SOUTH Africa would likely harvest 7.44 million tons of maize in 2016, 25% less than the 9.94 million tons reaped last year, because of a scorching drought, the Crop Estimates Committee said. It would be the smallest crop since 2007.