South Africa Offers Glencore Smelters Cheaper Power to Save Jobs

South Africa has offered Glencore Plc’s ferrochrome smelting venture and Samancor Chrome Ltd.’s operations cheaper electricity in a bid to save jobs.

Glencore’s joint business with Merafe Resources Ltd., which processes chrome ore into ferrochrome, has been in talks for months with the government and state power utility Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. about lowering its energy costs. In December, it extended a consultation process on about 1,500 job cuts to the end of this month.