Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC) director-general Lionel October emphasised, during a recent meeting of the Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry, the department’s support for the implementation of a set of interventions to promote chrome beneficiation.  

It emerged during the briefing that South Africa’s share of the global ferrochrome market had declined to 27% from 39% in 2009, mainly as a result of the loss of exports of chrome ore and production of ferrochrome in China, as well as increasing domestic energy costs.

China’s exponential growth has seen it move from its position as a marginal producer of ferrochrome to its current status of holding 40% of the global market share.

October led a team that briefed the committee on how the proposed interventions could contribute to strategic localisation and reindustrialisation.

He emphasised that government was conscious of the transformation obligations in these sectors and said the DTIC was working with other departments to ensure the necessary legislative imperatives were adhered to to achieve empowerment, through ownership; local procurement and opportunities for small, medium-sized and microenterprises, besides others.

Further, DTIC minerals processing director Dr Umeesha Naidoo told the committee that South Africa did have competitive advantages, which it must leverage on, to boost its raking in the global market.

“These include world-class technology when it comes to chrome smelting, access to the largest resources of high-quality chrome ore and a world-class stainless steel producer.”

Naidoo added that other interventions include dealing with the high costs of logistics, promoting increased transportation of chrome and ferrochrome by rail and introducing a form of chrome tax that would balance the viability of both the chrome and ferrochrome industries.

Another key intervention is on the supply of electricity to energy-intensive users. Combating illegal chrome mining is another critical area that is also being addressed to support the growth of the industries.