South Africa: Ferro chrome exports jump 20% m-o-m in Aug’26

• US, South Korean shipments surge amid concerns over South African smelting constraints
• Chinese ferro chrome imports slump; chrome ore also falls amid high stocks, squeezed smelter margins

South Africa’s exports of high-carbon ferro chrome totalled 117,180 tonnes (t) in August, representing a surge of 20% m-o-m and 45.8% y-o-y, according to the latest data from the South African Revenue Service (SARS).

The m-o-m gain was driven mainly by stronger shipments to South Korea and the United States, the data show. Shipments to South Korea reached 20,790 tonnes, marking a significant increase of 43.3% on month and 927.1% on year, while exports to the United States skyrocketed 128% from July to 26,029 tonnes.

Shipments to China, by contrast, slumped 27.6% on month to 20,505 tonnes, the SARS data shows.

The surge to South Korea and the United States partly reflects restocking demand outside China, as buyers in those markets sought to secure material amid concerns over South Africa’s constrained smelting capacity, analysts say. This shift helped offset weaker Chinese buying during the month, keeping August export volumes supported, despite the pullback in China-bound shipments.

In the January-August period, South Africa exported 878,234 tonnes of high-carbon ferro chrome in total, down by a huge 37.6% year on year. Shipments to China totalled 284,968 tonnes, plunging 35.7% year on year.

Meanwhile, South Africa’s chrome ore exports reached 2.36 million tonnes in August, down 10.8% from July, according to the SARS statistics. Exports to China slipped 6% on month to 1.67 million tonnes. High chrome ore inventories at Chinese ports and squeezed margins at ferro chrome smelters had sharply reduced buying interest, leaving actual transactions limited, Mysteel Global notes.

That weak buying interest is reflected in inventories at the ports monitored by Mysteel. As of 28 August, total chrome ore stocks at the five major Chinese ports that account for 95% of total domestic inventories stood at a high of 4.92 million tonnes, according to Mysteel data.

Note: This article has been written in accordance with a content exchange agreement between Mysteel Global and BigMint.