Glencore's 2025 ferrochrome output plunges 60% on smelter closures

Glencore plc's ferrochrome output during 2025 plummeted by 730,000 tonnes, or 63% on year to just 436,000 tonnes, according to its full-year production report issued late last week. The commodities giant attributed the dramatic collapse directly to the shutdown of its Boshoek and Wonderkop smelters in Rustenburg in South Africa's North West Province where operations were suspended in May and June last year, respectively.

The suspension shuttered 2.3 million tonnes of annual capacity, equivalent to roughly one-third of South Africa's total annual ferrochrome exports, Mysteel Global understands. The closures form part of a broader retrenchment program impacting nearly 2,500 workers and an estimated 17,000 more in the associated supply chain, according to industry