Glencore mulls job cuts at South African ferrochrome venture

Glencore Plc’s ferrochrome venture in South Africa said it’s started restructuring talks that may lead to job losses months after shuttering some of its plants.

Merafe Resources – which owns a 20.5% stake in the operations – said on Monday that the consultation process will focus on two smelters that were closed in May. While South Africa is the world’s largest producer of chrome ore, the domestic processing industry has been hammered in recent years by high electricity costs and fierce competition from Chinese facilities.

The Glencore-Merafe joint venture has five complexes that transform chrome ore into ferrochrome that’s used to manufacture stainless steel. Since 2020 four of them have been mothballed and the remaining plant was recently suspended for maintenance.

The ferrochrome sector in South Africa – dominated by Glencore, as owner of 79.5% of the venture, and Samancor Chrome – is trying to negotiate access to cheaper power from the country’s electricity utility. Samancor has also shuttered some of its smelting operations.

In June, South Africa’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 are yet to be finalised.

The consultation is a result of “the continuing economic pressures facing the South African ferrochrome industry and the lack of sustainable industry solutions that could alleviate the pressures in the near to medium term,” Johannesburg-listed Merafe said in a statement. It didn’t say how many workers could be impacted by the restructuring.

© 2025 Bloomberg

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