Bloomberg reports that Japie Fullard, CEO of Glencore Alloys, will meet Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa on Friday in an effort to save its venture with Merafe Resources that processes chrome ore into ferrochrome.
Thousands of jobs are at stake as the smelters grapple with surging power prices. A ministry spokesperson confirmed the meeting. SA, home to the world’s largest deposits of chrome ore, has struggled with expensive and often unreliable power supply, leading to the closure of furnaces and shifting the stainless-steel supply chain overseas – mainly to China. Power costs have surged eightfold since 2008, according to the Energy Intensive Users Group, whose members account for about 40% of the nation’s electricity consumption.
In June, SA’s government approved a plan to support the ferrochrome industry, by agreeing on new electricity tariffs as well as introducing controls and taxes for exports of chrome ore. Those reforms have yet to be finalised. Keeping operations on hold is costing Glencore billions of rand, something the company is only able to do until the end of the year as time is running out to find a solution. “I’m still paying the people a 100% their salary without creating one ton of ferrochrome,” Fullard said.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard at News24
- Lees ook, Eskom se ontbondeling noodsaaklik om mynbou te red, by Maroela Media
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