Samancor declares force majeure due to lockdown
2020-04-01 14:54:31 [Print]
Samancor Chrome, one of the biggest ferrochrome producers in the world, said on Tuesday it had issued a force majeure to customers due to South Africa's 21-day nationwide coronavirus lockdown.
South Africa imposed mandatory restrictions on the public and required all underground mines and furnaces be put on care and maintenance on March 26 as it battles the spread of the coronavirus.
Samancor, whose core business is the mining and smelting of chrome ore, has an annual capacity of some 1.2 million tonnes of ferrochrome and chromite ore, its website said.
Chrome and platinum producer Tharisa last Friday declared force majeure on its chrome concentrate sales agreements due to the lockdown.
Jubilee Metals, another chrome producer, put all its operations under care and maintenance for the duration of the lockdown. "We've been able to clear all the chrome stocks we had available," said CEO Leon Coetzer. "We've slowly wound down our contractual commitments so we didn't have to declare force majeure," he added.
South Africa imposed mandatory restrictions on the public and required all underground mines and furnaces be put on care and maintenance on March 26 as it battles the spread of the coronavirus.
Samancor, whose core business is the mining and smelting of chrome ore, has an annual capacity of some 1.2 million tonnes of ferrochrome and chromite ore, its website said.
Chrome and platinum producer Tharisa last Friday declared force majeure on its chrome concentrate sales agreements due to the lockdown.
Jubilee Metals, another chrome producer, put all its operations under care and maintenance for the duration of the lockdown. "We've been able to clear all the chrome stocks we had available," said CEO Leon Coetzer. "We've slowly wound down our contractual commitments so we didn't have to declare force majeure," he added.
