After declining in 2019, global gold production was further negatively impacted on by the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, with overall output estimated to have fallen by 5.20% to 108-million ounces. However, persisting high bullion prices are expected to push up output going forward. Market research company Fitch Solutions forecasts that global gold production will increase from 109-million ounces in 2021 to 141-million ounces by 2030, averaging a growth rate of 3.20% a year, compared with a 0.80% average growth rate in production from 2016 to 2020. The market research company contends in its 'Outlook for Global Gold Mining' report, published in June 2021, that, over the medium term, global mine production growth will remain strong, as high prices by historical standards encourage investment and output growth. Meanwhile, the lifting of lockdown restrictions and the release of pent-up demand for gold is likely to herald a period of robust demand in 2022, particularly on account of gold’s safe-haven status. Creamer Media’s ‘Gold 2021/22: A safe haven in a time of crisis’ report reviews the global and South African gold markets in this context. Globally, the focus of the report is on supply and demand, while in South Africa, the report shifts to a look at the performance of major and smaller companies in the industry, including the impact of labour relations, gold companies’ responses to the Covid-19 pandemic, and criminal activity in the sector.

The diamond industry was already under pressure before 2020, and the situation was exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, which compelled the major miners to adopt a price-over-volume strategy and take steps to support the midstream segment. They reduced production by 20% and allowed customers to postpone purchases, and when demand recovered in the third quarter of 2020, the major miners lowered rough diamond prices by 10%. Consumer demand received a further boost from strong holiday jewellery sales in December 2020, and 2021 has thus far proved to be a success for all segments of the diamond value chain, with miners achieving record sales, midstream margins growing amid high prices and jewellery sales exceeding previous forecasts. Creamer Media’s ‘Diamonds 2021: Agility in the face of crisis’ report provides an overview of the world diamond market amid the Covid-19 pandemic. The report highlights rough diamond production, supply and demand, imports and exports, the production of synthetic diamonds, as well as the responsible sourcing of diamonds. The report has a specific emphasis on diamond mining activities in South Africa over the past 12 months, and provides updates on the country’s major and midtier diamond producers, junior diamond mining companies, explorers and developers.

The Paris Agreement, which is a legally binding international treaty on climate change, outlines ambitious goals of limiting global warming to below 2 °C above preindustrial era levels while pursuing efforts to limit the increase to 1.5 °C by reducing carbon dioxide emissions worldwide. Some countries have been raising their commitments as intended, with ambitious objectives set by the European Union (EU), the UK and Japan, besides others. Nonetheless, the world is likely on course to warm by about 2.5 °C by the end of the century, according to research and consultancy group Wood Mackenzie. Many countries are not on track for net zero by 2050 and governments still have much work to do to clarify their strategies for reaching their respective objectives. South Africa’s Presidential Climate Change Coordinating Commission has published recommendations for a carbon-reduction commitment and has confirmed a long-term target for achieving net-zero carbon emissions by this date. Yet, South Africa is unlikely to reach the net-zero emissions target by 2050. Its economy – and energy system – is one of the most coal-dependent in the world and government’s plans still allow for a significant amount of coal in the future power mix. This is despite the country’s complementary wind and solar resources being among the best renewable-energy resources in the world, available on vast amounts tracts of unused land. Creamer Media’s ‘COP26: Advancing South Africa’s just energy transition’ considers the challenges that the world and, in particular, South Africa are facing with regard to reaching their climate-change mitigation goals. The report considers South Africa’s Nationally Determined Contribution; the country’s reliance on coal and the its converse potential it has as a preferred global destination for foreign and domestic decarbonisation investment while ensuring a just transition; South Africa’s renewables capability; and the consequences of delaying climate action.

Energy, freight transport, water and digital infrastructure have been identified in South Africa’s draft National Infrastructure Plan 2050, as the four critical network sectors that should receive priority over the next 30 years. These basic building blocks for economic development and progress will, no doubt, remain central in the final plan too. In all four areas, there is significant pent-up demand. Without sufficient electricity, it is more expensive to build new mines and mineral processing plants. Without water security, agricultural investment is stymied. Without sufficient ports, rail and roads, entire manufacturing value chains grind to a halt. Without digital infrastructure, the communication, coordination and marketing becomes challenging for all businesses. Absent these supply-side building blocks, the pipeline of other growth-enhancing and job-generating projects, big and small, will remain insufficient to position South Africa to tackle its deep-seated problems of widespread poverty, rising unemployment and extreme inequality. Indeed, there are also infrastructure needs in many areas beyond these four priority sectors. Nevertheless, progress in these areas will go some way towards opening up investment in other infrastructure segments, as well as in the productive sectors of farming, mining and manufacturing.

Africa’s mining industry, for the most part, weathered the storm of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. The sector dealt with the impact of the pandemic extremely well, leading an effective response. Most governments on the continent, acutely aware of the economic significance of mining commodities, steered clear of forcing strict restrictions on producing mining operations and their supply chains, global risk consultancy Control Risks states. Taking into consideration the existing model of far-flung mine camps across the continent, the mining industry, generally, managed to isolate itself from the outside world through on-site lockdowns and strict access controls. At sites, where a strong culture of health and safety already existed, mining companies were able to establish robust testing and isolation infrastructure, often outperforming their host governments. However, the extent, as well as the different effects, of the pandemic on mining in Africa are still unknown. Creamer Media’s ‘Africa Mining Projects in Progress 2021’ report covers more than 40 mining projects across Central, East, North, Southern and West Africa, all offering very compelling mining propositions given the current economic environment, with several excellent prospects in the pipeline.

Creamer Media’s Real Economy Year Book has been divided into separate reports under the banner Real Economy Insight, and investigates key developments in the automotive, construction, electricity, oil and gas, road and rail, steel, water, manufacturing, pumps, coal, gold, iron-ore and platinum sectors. This six-page brief is a synopsis of key developments in the coal sector over the past 12 months. It provides an overview of South Africa’s coal market, coal exports and touches on whether South Africa is approaching a “coal cliff”. It also delves into coal companies’ broader energy ambitions and the goal of a cleaner energy future.

Creamer Media’s Real Economy Year Book has been divided into separate reports under the banner Real Economy Insight, and investigates key developments in the automotive, construction, electricity, oil and gas, road and rail, steel, water, manufacturing, pumps, coal, gold, iron-ore and platinum sectors. This four-page brief is a synopsis of key developments in the iron-ore sector over the past 12 months. It provides an overview of the global and South African iron-ore markets, including South Africa’s iron-ore production and prospects for the future.

Creamer Media’s Real Economy Year Book has been divided into separate reports under the banner Real Economy Insight, and investigates key developments in the automotive, construction, electricity, oil and gas, road and rail, steel, water, manufacturing, pumps, coal, gold, iron-ore and platinum sectors. This six-page brief is a synopsis of key developments in the pumps sector over the past 12 months. The brief considers South Africa’s depressed pump manufacturing sector and how the advent of smart pumps and the Industrial Internet of Things is affecting the sector.

Creamer Media’s Real Economy Year Book has been divided into separate reports under the banner Real Economy Insight, and investigates key developments in the automotive, construction, electricity, oil and gas, road and rail, steel, water, manufacturing, pumps, coal, gold, iron-ore and platinum sectors. This five-page brief is a synopsis of key developments in the manufacturing sector over the past 12 months. It provides an overview of the global and South African manufacturing sectors amid the Covid-19 pandemic, power supply disruptions and the progression of manufacturing into the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Creamer Media’s Real Economy Year Book has been divided into separate reports under the banner Real Economy Insight, and investigates key developments in the automotive, construction, electricity, oil and gas, road and rail, steel, water, manufacturing, pumps, coal, gold, iron-ore and platinum sectors. This five-page brief is a synopsis of key developments in the platinum sector over the past 12 months. It provides an overview of the global and South African platinum markets, platinum’s role in the hydrogen economy and its role in achieving carbon neutrality over the coming decades.