South African producer Merafe Resources has begun restarting the Boshoek and Wonderkop ferrochrome smelters after agreeing an electricity price with state utility Eskom. The tariff for smelting operations is set at 0.62 South African rand per kWh.
The restart at Boshoek began in September 2026, followed by Wonderkop in October. Merafe expects production at both facilities to ramp up during the fourth quarter. The smelters had been idle since May 2025 amid unfavorable operating conditions, including high electricity costs.
The agreement between the Glencore-Merafe Chrome Venture and Eskom sets electricity prices for three years. South Africa’s National Energy Regulator (NERSA) approved the tariff in May, and the parties finalized the negotiated terms with Eskom in June. An interim tariff of about 0.88 rand per kWh, approved by NERSA in January 2026, had not been low enough to make restarting the smelters commercially viable.
Merafe’s attributable ferrochrome production fell 46% year on year to 61,000 tonnes in January–September 2026. The company said the decline was mainly due to the suspension of Boshoek and Wonderkop. Attributable chrome ore production decreased 7% to 658,000 tonnes, reflecting lower mine output and reduced ore processing at its concentrators.
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