The Glencore-Merafe Chrome Venture has agreed to further extend the date for the termination of Section 189 retrenchment consultations under way with workers at its ferrochrome smelters – this time to April 9.

The revised timeframe follows an initial extension from March 31 to April 7 announced last week and was confirmed in a statement issued by JSE-listed Merafe.

“Shareholders are hereby advised that, at Eskom’s request, the Glencore-Merafe Chrome Venture has agreed to a further extension of the Termination Date to 9 April 2026,” Merafe said in a statement.

Eskom was reportedly considering a counter proposal to the terms and conditions it set for a 62c/kWh tariff offer first announced on February 27 in a bid to prevent the closure of further smelting capacity by ferrochrome producers Glencore-Merafe and Samancor Chrome.

Glencore-Merafe described the conditions outlined in Eskom’s initial offer as “unworkable” but later expressed optimism that a balanced and workable solution was possible.

Separately, the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa), which would need to approve any tariff that could emerge for the ferrochrome sector, confirmed that a process had been launched in relation to the terms of a prevailing negotiated pricing agreement (NPA) between Eskom and ferroalloys producer Transalloys.

Nersa reported that Transalloys approached Eskom in November last year to inform it that it was experiencing financial hardship under the take-or-pay contractual terms of the NPA.

Transalloys has manganese ferroalloys smelter operations in Mpumalanga, and has been vocal in its call for any tariff deal in the ferrochrome sector to be extended to the rest of the ferroalloys industry.

The company had indicated to Eskom that production cutbacks were required in light of prevailing market conditions, which meant that its electricity consumption could fall below the minimum 80 GWh threshold stipulated in the NPA.

Nersa has set a closing date of Thursday, April 30 for written comments on a proposed temporary amendment to the NPA.

In January, the Electricity Regulator approved an application by Eskom to extend temporary tariff relief to ferrochrome producers Samancor Chrome and the Glencore-Merafe Chrome Venture for a period of 12 months; this after the companies expressed hardship under the existing tariff and terms included in their NPAs with Eskom.

Eskom made an application to Nersa to supply electricity to smelters owned by the two entities at a temporary tariff of 87.74c/kWh, while indicating that it would continue to pursue a 62c/kWh offer in line with the industry’s indication that it would be competitive only at such a price point.