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The 2004 sales were however still 8.7% below the record annual sales of R137.5bn achieved in 2002. The 2004 sales brought the gain since 1999's R76.4bn to 64.2% or an annual average growth rate of 13.2%.
In US dollar terms, using the annual average exchange rate to convert, mineral sales rose by 25.2% in 2004 to $19.455bn and brought the rise since 2002 to 48.8%.
The rise in mineral sales value in 2004 is largely due to an increase in commodity prices, as well as platinum and diamond export volumes, but bulk mineral export volumes such as coal and iron ore have been stagnant as the logistics chain has been unable to benefit from surging demand in China.
The seven major South African ports of Cape Town, Durban, East London, Mossel Bay, Port Elizabeth, Richards Bay and Saldanha exported 109.941 million metric tons (Mt) of bulk cargo, a 2.9% drop on 2003, data supplied by the National Ports Authority (NPA) showed.
Imports on the other hand rose by a tiny 0.1% to 36.173 million metric tons of bulk cargo.
The decline in exports was mostly due to a 4.0% drop in exports from Richards Bay, which is the main coal export harbour, to 75.1 million tons, while Saldanha, the main iron ore export harbour, saw a 4.8% rise to 26.5 million tons.
