Transport Costs Keep South African Chrome Producers Under Margin Pressure

[ADC12 Price Daily Review: Costs provide support, demand adopts a wait-and-see stance, ADC12 prices largely consolidate] Today, the ADC12 market was largely stable overall, with strong short-term wait-and-see sentiment in the market. The SMM ADC12 price remained flat from the previous day at 24,500 yuan/mt.

SMM data showed that China’s high-carbon ferrochrome output in September 2026 fell 3.17% MoM but rose 18.8% YoY, with January to September output up 30.84% YoY. Capacity utilization was about 56%, down from about 57.6% in August. Capacity was almost unchanged, down only 0.3% MoM, so the output decline reflects producers choosing to run fewer furnaces rather than losing capacity. Cost inversion explains the pattern. Firm coke prices, higher power tariffs and slow-moving chrome ore prices raised costs, while lower steel mill tender prices weakened ferrochrome prices, leaving higher-cost plants in the south with little or no margin. Output in Guizhou, Hunan and Guangxi combined fell 23.33% MoM, accounting for nearly 60% of the national decline, and utilization in Hunan and Guizhou dropped to about 12% and 20%. Inner Mongolia, with roughly 81% of national output, dipped only 0.31% MoM at about 75.5% utilization, as its scale and lower costs kept furnaces running. That resilience is why YoY and YTD growth remain strong even though the MoM decline has widened and both growth rates have eased since August. SMM expects southern output to stay subdued until margins recover, while northern output holds broadly steady.

Valterra Platinum has achieved annual cost savings of R203 million through the deployment of Jameson flotation cells at the north concentrator of its Mogalakwena mine in South Africa, according to an update published on 9 October 2026. The technology replaced approximately 44 conventional flotation cells with four Jameson cells, improving the efficiency of platinum-group metal (PGM) concentration. The project has also reduced concentrate volumes sent for smelting, lowering smelting electricity consumption by 70.5 million kWh and associated carbon emissions by approximately 73,000 tonnes, according to the company’s first-half results. For the chromium market, the development highlights how improved mineral processing and concentrate management can help PGM producers address chrome-related smelting constraints. Valterra blends concentrates from different ore sources to manage chrome content in smelter feed, while continuing to optimize chrome recovery circuits at its Amandelbult and Mototolo operations. A study into deploying Jameson cells at Mogalakwena’s south concentrator is also well advanced, although the projected benefits have not yet been confirmed.