JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – South African ferrochrome producer Assmang plans to convert the No 5 furnace at its Machadodorp Works to produce high-carbon ferromanganese, rather than ferrochrome, it announced on Thursday.

The producer, which is jointly owned by African Rainbow Minerals and Assore, noted in a statement to shareholders that all regulatory requirements were in the process of being met.

Assmang explained in a statement that it needed to meet elevated demand for high-carbon ferromanganese, while there was no excess capacity at its Cato Ridge Works to expand production at present.

The converted furnace, which was already undergoing a “major rebuild”, was expected to be able to produce about 4 000 t/m of high-carbon ferromanganese by the middle of this year.

The producer assured its customers that it would still be able to meet its contractual obligations in terms of ferrochrome output through the continued operation of its three chrome furnace, while also boosting the overall alloy production through the additional ferromanganese production.

Further, Assmang expected the conversion to allow it to offset some of the retrenchments it had made in 2009, as a result of a slowdown in demand for ferrochrome, which forced it to halt production at some of its furnaces.

By May last year, only the No 1 and No 5 furnaces at the Machadodorp Works had remained in production.

Meanwhile, the producer emphasised that it remained committed to its chrome business, adding that it was in the process of expanding chrome-ore production at its Dwarsrivier mine.

“There are no plans to convert any other furnaces and the company is carrying out feasibility studies on expanding ferrochrome and ferromanganese capacity,” it stated.