SA’s chrome exports boom while its smelters cling to life
The country has finally offered cheaper electricity to its smelters, but is this enough to win back the business?
SA’s ferrochrome smelters were granted a 62c/kWh tariff in May to rescue a sector in freefall. The latest export figures point to an industry fighting for its life.
A recent presentation by Trade & Industrial Policy Strategies (Tips) shows that chrome ore exports reached 7.3 million tonnes in the second quarter of 2026, up 28% on a year earlier. Ferrochrome exports, however, moved in the opposite direction, falling 18% to 364 000 tonnes.
