2027 Agenda

Who wins when policy reshapes the market?

As South Africa debates chrome export taxes and beneficiation measures, the economics of chrome mining, ferrochrome smelting and downstream investment are increasingly being rewritten by policy, power costs and global competition. Meanwhile, Africa remains central to global chrome supply, with Zimbabwe also underpinning a market that is critical to stainless steel, industrial manufacturing and strategic industries. For investors, the key question is where value will migrate next. Will policy revive domestic processing, accelerate regional competition, or reshape the economics of the entire chrome value chain?

The big questions

• Will policy create new winners or simply redistribute value?
• Is affordable power now more valuable than access to ore?
• Could investment shift from mines to ferrochrome processing?
• How might South Africa's policy choices reshape regional competitiveness?