JOHANNESBURG Feb 13 (Reuters) – Xstrata has
switched off two chrome furnaces at its Rustenburg plant in
South Africa to help power utility Eskom save power,
but said on Monday that supplies to customers would not be
affected.
Spokesman Songezo Zibi said maintenance at the furnaces had
been brought forward from its usual schedule in South Africa’s
June/July winter because the national grid is under particular
strain right now due to unplanned outages at some of Eskom’s
power plants.
Zibi said the lost production would be made up by higher
output at some of its other smelters, some of which are around
30 percent more energy efficient than the Rustenburg ones.
“We will be able to meet customer demand because we have not
reduced overall planned production,” he said.
Zibi said it was not clear yet how long the maintenance
programme would last.
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