Chromite · Origin deep dive

Priced delivered into Chinese ports, with cargoes discharging at Tianjin and southern ports serving Inner Mongolia ferrochrome smelters.

UG2 concentrate around 40-42% Cr2O3 with a lower Cr:Fe ratio, the liquid reference grade for seaborne chrome ore.

Moves in Supramax and Panamax bulk parcels; Chinese port inventories of chrome ore are the key visible supply signal.

Chinese high-carbon ferrochrome smelters, feeding Tsingshan-style stainless mills, absorb the overwhelming majority of seaborne UG2.

Follows Chinese stainless production schedules and ferrochrome tender cycles, softening into winter power-restriction and holiday periods.

Chinese ferrochrome margins, stainless output caps, port-stock swings and any South African export-tax talk move the CIF price.

Concentrates from Bushveld PGM operations move by rail and road to Richards Bay, Durban and Maputo for export.

By-product UG2 tailings concentrate, roughly 40-42% Cr2O3 with Cr:Fe near 1.35, cheaper but leaner than metallurgical lumpy.

Transnet rail shortfalls push tonnage onto trucks toward Maputo, whose corridor has become the pressure-relief valve for exports.

Almost entirely Chinese ferrochrome smelters, since South Africa's own smelting has shrunk under Eskom power costs.

Supply is steady as PGM by-product, so flows track PGM mine output and Chinese restocking rather than seasons.

Eskom tariffs idling local smelters, the mooted chrome-ore export tax, PGM mine closures and Transnet-Maputo logistics set the differential.

Great Dyke ore trucks and rails via the Beitbridge or Forbes-Machipanda corridors to Maputo, with some flow through Durban.

Higher Cr:Fe lumpy and chromite concentrates from the Great Dyke, metallurgically superior to UG2 for charge-chrome burdens.

Long overland hauls, border-post congestion at Beitbridge and Forbes, and NRZ rail decay keep landed costs volatile.

Chinese smelters and Chinese-invested local ferrochrome plants like Dinson take output, with Harare pushing beneficiation over raw exports.

Policy-driven more than seasonal; rainy-season road damage and intermittent government raw-ore export bans interrupt flows.

Recurrent Zimbabwean raw-chrome export bans, power shortages from Kariba's low water, and corridor logistics dominate the risk map.

Anatolian mines around Elazığ and Adana ship lumpy ore through Mediterranean and Black Sea ports like Iskenderun and Mersin.

Hard lumpy ore with high Cr:Fe ratio commanding a metallurgical premium over friable UG2 concentrate for furnace permeability.

Smaller Handysize and container parcels suit the fragmented mine base, giving flexible but costlier per-tonne shipment economics.

Chinese ferrochrome producers blend Turkish lumpy for furnace structure, alongside specialty ferroalloy and refractory consumers in Europe.

Modest winter slowdowns in Anatolian mining; sales otherwise track Chinese smelter blending demand for lumpy premium material.

Lira volatility, small-mine cost inflation, and the lumpy-to-UG2 premium compressing when Chinese smelters economize on blends.

Kazchrome's Donskoy ore feeds Aktobe and Aksu smelters directly, with limited seaborne ore exiting via Russian rail routes.

World's best chromite at high Cr2O3 with Cr:Fe around 3.5-4, largely consumed in ERG's integrated ferrochrome production.

Landlocked rail-dependent flows through Russia constrain third-party ore sales, keeping most units captive to ERG smelters.

Effectively ERG itself, with tight ore availability meaning outside buyers mostly access Kazakh units as ferrochrome, not ore.

Integrated supply runs year-round; harsh winters occasionally slow rail movements but demand exposure is via ferrochrome benchmarks.

Russian transit-route exposure, sanctions spillover on logistics and payments, and ERG's captive allocation choices set marginal availability.