* Will shut 5 furnaces until end-May
* To lose 100,000 T of output
* Customers will not be affected
JOHANNESBURG, Feb 17 (Reuters) – A joint venture
between South African ferrochrome producer Merafe Resources
and London-listed Xstrata will shut five of its
furnaces until the end of May to help power utility Eskom manage
a tight electricity supply.
The companies said 100,000 tonnes of production would be
lost as a result of the agreement, but there would be no impact
on supplies to customers in the second quarter.
State-owned Eskom would buy back the energy that
would have been used by the furnaces, they added.
The companies said the furnaces will undergo maintenance
during the shutdown and there would be no job losses.
They said the Rustenburg smelter’s energy efficiency is
expected to improve when a new sintering and pelletising plant,
currently under construction, becomes operational in the second
half of this year.
South Africa has been struggling to meet demand for power as
new power plants meant to plug the shortfall have been delayed.
Supply will remain vulnerable until the first units of Eskom’s
new stations become operational next year.
The national grid nearly collapsed four years ago, forcing
mines and smelters to shut for days and costing Africa’s top
economy billions of dollars in lost output.
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