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[Ferro-Alloys.com] Chromium Industry Needs ‘Perfect Alignment’ of Power, Policy and Green Energy, ICDA Warns
The global chromium industry faces a defining moment: to thrive, it requires nothing less than “perfect alignment between political stability, access to reliable and cost-effective energy, and green energy,” according to Shiraz Neffati, Executive Director of the International Chromium Development Association (ICDA).
By Rudairo Mapuranga
Speaking at the Africa Chromium Week 2026 Conference, which happened in Victoria Falls last week, Neffati laid out a stark framework for an industry navigating resource nationalism, decarbonisation mandates, and supply chain realignment.
“Chromium is set to be a critical raw material for several jurisdictions,” Neffati said, explaining that the metal’s role extends far beyond its traditional anchor in stainless steel. Speciality steel applications, the defence industry, aerospace, energy, and engineering sectors all depend on chromium. “If you don’t have chromium, these applications cannot exist.”
Her remarks come as Zimbabwe, host of the conference, aggressively pivots from a raw chrome ore exporter to a ferrochrome processing hub. The country holds the world’s second-largest chrome reserves, underpinned by the mineral-rich Great Dyke geological formation.
But that ambition collides with a brute physics problem: ferrochrome smelting is among the most energy-intensive industrial processes, consuming 3,500–4,000 kWh per tonne. Zimbabwe’s grid, already hobbled by debt and generation deficits, cannot absorb significantly more load without crippling other users.
The government’s solution, articulated over the past two years, forces the industry’s hand. Ferrochrome miners have been given until 2026 to develop their own captive power generation, primarily from renewable sources, ending a period of subsidised grid tariffs.
Neffati’s emphasis on “green energy” signals that sustainability is no longer a peripheral concern but a core competitiveness issue. Global stainless steel buyers, particularly in Europe and North America, are increasingly pricing in carbon intensity. Zimbabwe’s chrome sector, if it powers expansion with coal or an unreliable grid, risks being locked out of premium markets.
Yet the “alignment” he describes is fragile. Policy consistency, investment in transmission infrastructure, and tariff predictability remain open questions. Some producers are moving ahead: Jin An Group recently launched a US$20 million, 20-megawatt solar project for its Gweru smelter, part of a broader US$140 million captive power drive. But whether smaller players can replicate that capital-intensive model is uncertain.
Neffati’s framing of chromium as a “critical raw material” carries weight. The European Union, United States, and other major economies have designated chromium as strategically important due to supply concentration and lack of substitutes. Zimbabwe’s policy shift, including an ongoing ban on raw chrome ore exports and a new 5% VAT on unbeneficiated chrome, leverages that scarcity to force industrialisation.
The ICDA conference, which ran from 14 to 16 April in Victoria Falls, has drawn policymakers, industry leaders, and analysts. Vice President Dr. Constantino Chiwenga is representing President Mnangagwa, underscoring the government’s top-down commitment. Sessions have addressed South Africa’s market position, Indonesia’s ferrochrome expansion, and the logistics of moving processed chrome via regional rail and the Port of Maputo.
For investors and miners who were in the room, the message was clear. Chromium demand will grow, driven by decarbonisation infrastructure, electric vehicles, and speciality alloys. But capturing that demand requires more than digging ore. It requires mastering the triad of politics, power, and sustainability, and getting the alignment exactly right.
Whether Zimbabwe can deliver all three before its export bans bite and its smelters go hungry for electricity remains the central question of this week’s deliberations.
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- [Editor:tianyawei]
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