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JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The South African platinum market is expected to remain unpredictable during 2014, but might not be as volatile as it was in 2013, Deloitte associate director Dr Jacek Guzek said on Tuesday.
He stated that the major issues, which kept the industry in crisis over the past two years, such as the unchanged platinum group metals (PGMs) basket price and the ever-increasing wage bill, still persisted.
“South African production in 2014 is either going to stagnate or decrease further. The platinum industry is in crisis for a second year going and there is no end in sight,” Guzek told Mining Weekly Online.
He explained that the industry crisis impacted negatively on production as it led to the systemic holding back of expansion capital by junior and major PGM producers, while, simultaneously, existing mines were becoming older, deeper and more difficult to mine.
Guzek added that the country would also still be faced with labour issues during the course of the year.