{"id":96539,"date":"2026-03-24T14:06:58","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T14:06:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/energy-uncertainty-tightens-grip-on-south-africa-smelting"},"modified":"2026-03-24T14:17:51","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T14:17:51","slug":"energy-uncertainty-tightens-grip-on-south-africa-smelting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/energy-uncertainty-tightens-grip-on-south-africa-smelting","title":{"rendered":"Energy Uncertainty Tightens Grip on South Africa Smelting"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; South-Africa. <\/strong><\/span>Stephen Grootes speaks to Japie Fullard, CEO Glencore Alloys, about the mounting anxiety among smelter workers as the long awaited 62c electricity deal stalls, exploring how the deadlock is deepening uncertainty in an already fragile sector and raising fresh concerns about the future of South Africa\u2019s energy intensive industries.<\/p>\n<p>South Africa\u2019s energy-intensive industries are facing renewed strain as a long-awaited electricity pricing agreement remains stuck in limbo, raising fears about jobs, investment and the future of key industrial operations.<\/p>\n<p>At the centre of the concern is the proposed 62 cents per kilowatt-hour electricity deal, seen as critical to keeping smelters viable in a high-cost power environment. But with no final agreement yet in place, anxiety is growing among workers and industry leaders alike.<\/p>\n<p>Smelters, which process raw minerals into metals like ferrochrome are among the most electricity-intensive operations in the economy. Power costs can account for a significant portion of total production expenses.<\/p>\n<p>The proposed 62c\/kWh tariff is viewed as a \u201clifeline price\u201d, a level at which operations can remain sustainable, protect jobs, and continue contributing to exports.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking to Stephen Grootes on The Money Show, Japie Fullard, CEO of Glencore Alloys, says the ongoing delays are creating deep uncertainty across the sector.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We are in negotiations there with Eskom, and I can tell you we had really cordial discussions but unfortunately our time is running out.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">South-Africa<\/span> Follow <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; South-Africa. Stephen Grootes speaks to Japie Fullard, CEO Glencore Alloys, about the mounting anxiety among smelter workers as the long awaited 62c electricity deal stalls, exploring how the deadlock is deepening uncertainty in an already fragile sector and raising fresh concerns about the future of South Africa\u2019s energy intensive industries. South Africa\u2019s energy-intensive [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":96538,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5],"tags":[275],"class_list":["post-96539","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-economy","tag-south-africa-2"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Energy Uncertainty Tightens Grip on South Africa Smelting - South Africa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Stephen Grootes speaks to Japie Fullard, CEO Glencore Alloys, about the mounting anxiety among smelter workers as the lo ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/energy-uncertainty-tightens-grip-on-south-africa-smelting\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Energy Uncertainty Tightens Grip on South Africa Smelting\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Stephen Grootes speaks to Japie Fullard, CEO Glencore Alloys, about the mounting anxiety among smelter workers as the lo ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/energy-uncertainty-tightens-grip-on-south-africa-smelting\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"South Africa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-03-24T14:06:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-24T14:17:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2026\/03\/sm_1774349208.703825.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/energy-uncertainty-tightens-grip-on-south-africa-smelting#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/energy-uncertainty-tightens-grip-on-south-africa-smelting\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Energy Uncertainty Tightens Grip on South Africa Smelting\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-24T14:06:58+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-24T14:17:51+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/energy-uncertainty-tightens-grip-on-south-africa-smelting\"},\"wordCount\":249,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/energy-uncertainty-tightens-grip-on-south-africa-smelting#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2026\/03\/sm_1774349208.703825.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"South-Africa\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"economy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/energy-uncertainty-tightens-grip-on-south-africa-smelting#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/energy-uncertainty-tightens-grip-on-south-africa-smelting\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/energy-uncertainty-tightens-grip-on-south-africa-smelting\",\"name\":\"Energy Uncertainty Tightens Grip on South Africa Smelting - South Africa\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/energy-uncertainty-tightens-grip-on-south-africa-smelting#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/energy-uncertainty-tightens-grip-on-south-africa-smelting#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2026\/03\/sm_1774349208.703825.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-24T14:06:58+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-24T14:17:51+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"Stephen Grootes speaks to Japie Fullard, CEO Glencore Alloys, about the mounting anxiety among smelter workers as the lo ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/energy-uncertainty-tightens-grip-on-south-africa-smelting#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/energy-uncertainty-tightens-grip-on-south-africa-smelting\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/energy-uncertainty-tightens-grip-on-south-africa-smelting#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2026\/03\/sm_1774349208.703825.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2026\/03\/sm_1774349208.703825.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":630,\"caption\":\"Energy Uncertainty Tightens Grip on South Africa Smelting\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/energy-uncertainty-tightens-grip-on-south-africa-smelting#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Energy Uncertainty Tightens Grip on South Africa Smelting\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/\",\"name\":\"South Africa\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cfeditoren\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Energy Uncertainty Tightens Grip on South Africa Smelting - South Africa","description":"Stephen Grootes speaks to Japie Fullard, CEO Glencore Alloys, about the mounting anxiety among smelter workers as the lo ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/energy-uncertainty-tightens-grip-on-south-africa-smelting","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Energy Uncertainty Tightens Grip on South Africa Smelting","og_description":"Stephen Grootes speaks to Japie Fullard, CEO Glencore Alloys, about the mounting anxiety among smelter workers as the lo ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/energy-uncertainty-tightens-grip-on-south-africa-smelting","og_site_name":"South Africa","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa","article_published_time":"2026-03-24T14:06:58+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-03-24T14:17:51+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":630,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2026\/03\/sm_1774349208.703825.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/energy-uncertainty-tightens-grip-on-south-africa-smelting#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/energy-uncertainty-tightens-grip-on-south-africa-smelting"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"Energy Uncertainty Tightens Grip on South Africa Smelting","datePublished":"2026-03-24T14:06:58+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-24T14:17:51+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/energy-uncertainty-tightens-grip-on-south-africa-smelting"},"wordCount":249,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/energy-uncertainty-tightens-grip-on-south-africa-smelting#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2026\/03\/sm_1774349208.703825.jpg","keywords":["South-Africa"],"articleSection":["all news","economy"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/energy-uncertainty-tightens-grip-on-south-africa-smelting#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/energy-uncertainty-tightens-grip-on-south-africa-smelting","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/energy-uncertainty-tightens-grip-on-south-africa-smelting","name":"Energy Uncertainty Tightens Grip on South Africa Smelting - South Africa","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/energy-uncertainty-tightens-grip-on-south-africa-smelting#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/energy-uncertainty-tightens-grip-on-south-africa-smelting#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2026\/03\/sm_1774349208.703825.jpg","datePublished":"2026-03-24T14:06:58+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-24T14:17:51+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"Stephen Grootes speaks to Japie Fullard, CEO Glencore Alloys, about the mounting anxiety among smelter workers as the lo ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/energy-uncertainty-tightens-grip-on-south-africa-smelting#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/energy-uncertainty-tightens-grip-on-south-africa-smelting"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/energy-uncertainty-tightens-grip-on-south-africa-smelting#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2026\/03\/sm_1774349208.703825.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2026\/03\/sm_1774349208.703825.jpg","width":1200,"height":630,"caption":"Energy Uncertainty Tightens Grip on South Africa Smelting"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/energy-uncertainty-tightens-grip-on-south-africa-smelting#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Energy Uncertainty Tightens Grip on South Africa Smelting"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/","name":"South Africa","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cfeditoren"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96539","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96539"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96539\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/96538"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96539"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96539"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96539"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}