[miningmx.com] -- XSTRATA is the first company to publicly declare force majeure on supplies out of South Africa because of the power crisis there.
The news is important not only for the steel industry, which is the major consumer of ferrochrome and vanadium, but because it sends out a signal from a major resource investor in South Africa that all is not well and that it cannot guarantee production.
Bear in mind, however, that Xstrata said it might be able to deliver ferrochrome and vanadium, but there is a possibility that it might miss delivery agreements.
"Xstrata Alloys has declared force majeure to its ferrochrome and vanadium customers as a precautionary measure in the light of reduced electricity supply to its ferrochrome and vanadium operations from Eskom, as part of a national energy shortage in South Africa," Xstrata said.
