Slow production lowers silicon social inventories

Construction of a 20MW solar power plant at Almid Private Limited, part of Zimbabwe's Jin An Group, has reached 60% completion in Gweru, according to a Herald report from a government delegation tour of the site. The plant is intended to supplement grid electricity supply for Jin An's ferrochrome operations and ease pressure on the national grid, forming part of a broader US$140 million energy investment by the group. That wider investment also includes plans for a 100MW captive power plant, targeted for completion by the end of 2027. Jin An currently operates five ferrochrome furnaces requiring approximately 50MW to run at full capacity — meaning the 20MW solar installation alone would cover roughly 40% of that requirement, with the planned 100MW captive plant designed to close the remaining gap and provide capacity beyond current needs. Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Dr Zhemu Soda toured the project alongside Permanent Secretary Nick Mangwana, as part of a wider assessment of development projects across the Midlands province. The progress is a concrete data point against a deadline flagged earlier this year by the International Chromium Development Association, which noted that Zimbabwe's government has given ferrochrome miners until the end of 2026 to develop their own captive power generation, primarily from renewable sources, ending a period of subsidised grid tariffs. With Jin An's solar phase now more than halfway complete and a larger captive plant slated for 2027, the company's timeline suggests captive power capacity will continue building well beyond this year's deadline — a reminder that for energy-intensive ferrochrome smelting, meeting Zimbabwe's self-generation push is likely to be a multi-year transition rather than a single milestone.

[ADC12 Daily Price Review: Spot ADC12 Edged Lower Slightly as Weak Demand and Raw Material Support Remained in a Tug-of-War] ADC12 market quotations overall consolidated on a subdued note today, with most enterprises cutting prices by 100 yuan/mt, mainly affected by a pull back in futures and primary aluminum prices, weaker end-use demand, and a slight downward shift on the cost side. However, the decline in aluminum scrap costs remained relatively limited, and the cost side still provided some support.

Kazakhstan's Kazchrome, the ferrochrome producer owned by Eurasian Resources Group, holds an internationally registered Environmental Product Declaration for its high-carbon ferrochrome, confirmed directly on the official EPD International registry as valid since 13 March 2026. The declaration, based on an independent lifecycle assessment by SGS, verifies the environmental footprint of ferrochrome produced at Kazchrome's Aktobe facilities across the full production cycle — from raw material mining and transportation through to water and energy consumption. SGS's ecology business manager for Kazakhstan and the Caspian subregion, Ilya Korlyakov, has said holding an EPD is becoming a meaningful competitive advantage as carbon requirements tighten in international markets. Kazchrome joins a small but growing list of ferrochrome producers with registered EPDs. Finland's Outokumpu was the first in the industry, publishing its declaration in July 2023, explicitly citing the EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism as the driver behind growing demand for verified low-carbon material. The EPD International registry also lists a Turkish ferrochrome declaration, registered through EPD Türkiye and valid since March 2026, alongside at least one other registered ferrochrome entry. With CBAM's transitional phase now well underway, EPDs are increasingly functioning as a practical requirement for import documentation into European markets rather than a purely voluntary sustainability signal.