M.Com. (Mining Economics) / This study indicated that price cyclicity in commodity markets is caused by various factors, and that this in itself can cause certain short and long term effects for mineral producers. One short term effect of price cyclicity is its potential influence on the stockpiling activities of mineral producers. Data on the activities of the producers of 24 mineral products in South Africa during the period 1980 - 1985 were analysed to quantify the potential influences. The only mineral products that show a significant inverse relationship between export prices and stockpiling in real terms, are diamonds and antimony. In both instances producers tend to stockpile if the price of the product declines, and to sell stocks if the price increases. This tendency is probably related to the relatively dominant position in the production and marketing of minerals that South African producers of these mineral products have achieved in the world market. Due to the confidentiality of statistics, the data of other dominant producers, for example the South African platinum producers, could not be included in the analysis. With the possible exception of the dominant producers, speculative stockpiling by South African producers is the exception rather than the rule...
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:uj/uj:11266 |
| Date | 29 May 2014 |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Rights | University of Johannesburg |
Page generated in 0.003 seconds