- South African shipments fall 80% on logistical bottlenecks, high production costs
- Kazakhstan emerges as leading supplier amid robust rail linkages with China
China’s high-carbon ferro chrome imports posted a significant y-o-y decline in H1CY’26, as shipments from South Africa collapsed, causing a major redraft of the country’s ferro chrome import map.
Total imports of high-carbon ferro chrome reached 825,245 t in the January-June period, down by a steep 42.8% from the 1.44 mnt recorded in the same period last year, according to data released by China’s General Administration of Customs (GACC).
Shipments from South Africa — traditionally China’s largest ferro chrome supplier — collapsed to just 131,299 t in H1, an 80.1% plunge that erased roughly 530,000 tonnes (t) of supply compared to the same period last year, the customs data show. South Africa’s share in China’s ferro chrome market tumbled from 45.8% to just 15.9% in H1, ending its long-held dominance.
The sharp contraction in South African shipments reflects the logistical bottlenecks at ports and high electricity tariffs that constrained smelting operations by sharply increasing smelters’ production costs. Durban, the primary gateway for South African chrome and ferro chrome exports, saw bulk vessel waiting times frequently exceeding three days during H1, Mysteel Global learnt.
The supply gap for China’s stainless steel makers has been filled largely by growing domestic production and imports from Kazakhstan. China’s high-carbon ferro chrome output reached 5.35 million t in H1CY’26, up 33% y-o-y, with June alone hitting a record high of 951,700 t, according to Mysteel’s latest survey of ferro chrome smelters representing over 95% of total domestic capacity.
On the other hand, Kazakhstan cemented its position as the emergent dominant supplier, shipping 479,024 t to China in H1, despite a modest 8.8% y-o-y decline, the customs data indicate. Kazakhstan’s relative resilience — tapping into stable production and logistical advantages from Belt and Road rail links — has helped mitigate the supply gap left by South Africa, with its share of China’s imports surging to 58% during H1 from 36.4% a year ago.
During the last month alone, China’s high-carbon ferro chrome imports rebounded by 12.5% from May to 147,379 t, with South African volumes recovering more than three-fold from May’s low of 9,995 t to 31,166 t. However, full-year imports from all sources are likely to fall to a multi-year low, with the pace of recovery hinging on South Africa’s ability to restore supply and on downstream demand from China’s stainless steel sector, Mysteel Global notes.
Note: This article has been published in accordance with a content exchange agreement between Mysteel Global and BigMint.
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