Hits&Misses
De Beers goes ahead with R1bn mine plan; drug prices hiked
GLOBAL diamond giant De Beers said it will go ahead with a planned $1bn (about R18.6bn) investment to extend the life of its flagship Jwaneng mine in Botswana, even as the 2023 downturn in gem demand persists. The Anglo American unit and the Botswana government, which jointly own Debswana Diamond Company, have approved the spending that will convert the Jwaneng pit into an underground operation.
MANUFACTURING
production increased for a second consecutive month in November despite an intensification in scheduled power outages and worsening port congestion, Stats SA reported. Production increased 1.9% year on year in November, boosted mainly by wood and wood products, paper, publishing and printing, as well as motor vehicles, parts and accessories and other
transport equipment.
THARISA reported record chrome output in the three months ended December, amid strong demand in key export markets such as China, while PGM production rose 16% over the same period. The company, which operates a mine near Brits in North West where it recovers chrome and PGMs, said chrome output rose 12% to 462,800t during the reporting period quarter on quarter.
THE health department has informed pharmaceutical manufacturers they will be permitted an aboveinflation 6.79% hike for private sector medicine sales in 2024, offering drugmakers some relief from rising input costs, but piling pressure on cash-strapped consumers and medical schemes. The Reserve Bank put inflation at 5.8% in November and expects it to average 5% in 2024.
KWAZULU-NATAL
state-owned development agency Ithala is carrying out deposit-taking activities without a banking exemption, which expired at the end of 2023. CEO Thulani Vilakazi said the Prudential Authority had committed that Ithala’s operations could continue as normal while engagements on the exemption were ongoing.
THE Competition Appeal Court has dismissed the Competition Commission’s eightyear case against three of the big local banks and most of the foreign banks, leaving just four foreign banks whose traders pleaded guilty in 2015 to charges brought by the US department of justice.