Up to 1,500 jobs have been saved in South Africa’s ferrochrome sector after Glencore’s chrome venture abandoned planned layoffs following the approval of discounted electricity tariffs for smelters.
The decision marks one of the clearest signs yet that government efforts to rescue South Africa’s struggling ferrochrome industry may be gaining traction after years of plant closures, rising energy costs and declining global competitiveness.
Glencore’s ferrochrome business, operated through a joint venture with Merafe Resources, announced on Monday that it had withdrawn a retrenchment process that could have led to significant job losses.
The move follows a decision by South Africa’s energy regulator, Nersa, to approve a special electricity tariff of 62 cents per kilowatt-hour for ferrochrome producers, substantially reducing one of the industry’s highest operating costs.
The company said the approval represented “a further step towards stabilising operations and progressing the phased restart of the business”.
