South Africa’s Eskom seeks regulatory approval for discounted ferrochrome tariff

South African utility Eskom on Friday sought regulatory approval for a discounted electricity tariff of 0.62 rand ($0.0377) per kilowatt hour for struggling ferrochrome producers Samancor Chrome and a joint venture between Glencore and Merafe Resources.

Eskom has submitted an application to regulator Nersa after saying in February that it would offer the two distressed companies a further 29% reduction in electricity prices in an effort to avert thousands of job losses.

South Africa, the world’s biggest chrome ore producer, has lost its position as the world’s top processor of chrome into ferrochrome to China mainly due to high electricity costs.

South African smelters have been hit by a roughly tenfold increase in electricity costs since 2008, forcing dozens of plants to shut.

State-owned Eskom said on Friday that the discounted tariff would not require higher consumer tariffs, additional borrowing or further government financial support.

The Glencore-Merafe joint venture had previously said it