Samancor presses ahead with job cuts despite Eskom deal

SAMANCOR Chrome is pushing forward with plans to retrench about 2,400 workers across its smelting operations and corporate offices, said Bloomberg News citing a statement from the National Union of Mineworkers.This is despite a government and Eskom agreement to reduce electricity tariffs for ferrochrome producers that would make their businesses more sustainable and preserve jobs, the newswire said.The NUM described the move as a betrayal of good-faith negotiations to protect jobs. “We need to sit down with them and understand,” NUM president Phillip Vilakazi said. Samancor did not respond to a request for comment, said Bloomberg News.South Africa offered Samancor and Glencore’s ferrochrome smelting joint venture discounted power on February 27 in a bid to avert job losses following months of talks between industry, government and the state utility.The proposed tariff of 62 cents per kilowatt-hour — equivalent to about four US cents — matched a rate the industry had previously requested, though details of implementation remain unclear, said Bloomberg News.Glencore said it would extend its retrenchment deadline from February 28 to the end of March, but added that the terms for cheaper electricity from Eskom must be commercially viable and support the long-term stability of its smelters.Only 11 of South Africa’s 66 ferrochrome smelters remain in operation, highlighting the toll that rising power costs have taken on the metals processing sector, the newswire said.The post Samancor presses ahead with job cuts despite Eskom deal appeared first on Miningmx.Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Mining.com Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Mining.com