UPDATE: No jobs cut for Tata plant shutdown
Richards Bay Ferrochrome plant set to reopen in September.
ALL hands will be back on deck at Tata Steel KZN’s Richards Bay ferrochrome plant when it reopens in September after a temporary shutdown.
The company said it did not retrench any employees when it closed the facility for winter months following Eskom’s electricity tariff increase of 12.7% in April.
‘We have shut down the plant during the winter months since the increase in power costs during these months is too steep for the unit to absorb, given the current market conditions,’ said Tata Steel KZN Managing Director Ashwani Kumar Lal.
‘But no jobs were lost. Salaries have been, and will continue to be paid.’
As to Tata’s product exports, Kumar Lal stated the company generated enough stock to service its key customers in Asia, Europe and the USA up to the end of last month (June).
The local plant produces 150 000 tons per year (tpy) of high carbon ferrochrome, also known as charge chrome, from locally supplied ores.
It exports the alloy of chromium and iron to stainless steel manufacturers abroad.
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