EDITORIAL: Ferrochrome dreams rust
Closure of yet more smelters belies the government’s talks of beneficiation
News that Glencore and Merafe’s joint ferrochrome venture may close more than half of its remaining smelters comes as another sad reminder of how far SA continues to fail in its oft-stated ambition to benefit more of the minerals it mines.
SA has more than 80% of the world’s chrome resources. But when it comes to smelting that ore into ferrochrome — an essential ingredient in stainless steel — SA has lost most of its market share to China, which has no chrome but now smelts more than 70% of the ore SA produces. Of course, SA still benefits from the export earnings on the raw ore, but exporting the refined ferrochrome would earn it four times more...
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