The Glencore-Merafe joint venture in December postponed the job cuts to February 28, to allow talks on electricity discountsSouth Africa‘s Merafe Resources said on Monday it had deferred lay-off procedures at its ferrochrome smelting joint venture with Glencore until March 31 after state power utility Eskom agreed to cut electricity tariffs.
The Glencore-Merafe joint venture in December postponed the job cuts to February 28, to allow talks on electricity discounts.
* Eskom on Friday announced a reduced electricity tariff of 0.62 rand ($0.0386) per kilowatt hour for Glencore-Merafe and Samancor Chrome, after earlier agreeing to a tariff of 0.88 rand per kilowatt hour.
* Tariff cut subject to approval by South Africa‘s energy regulator.
* The ferrochrome firms were paying 1.36 rand per kilowatt hour before the reduction.
* Trade unions say as many as 5,000 jobs are in danger if the two companies shut their smelters.
* The government says only 11 out of 66 smelters are currently operational, due to high electricity costs.
* South African smelters are struggling to compete with Chinese rivals due to high power costs.
($1 = 16.0623 rand) (Reporting by Nelson Banya; Editing by Kirsten Donovan )
Published On Mar 2, 2026 at 09:21 PM IST
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