JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) - The "unbridled" and "suicidal" export of raw chromite ore from South Africa - in place of the ten-times-more-valuable beneficiated ferrochrome - is worsening in terms of the volumes of raw chromite ore that are being exported from South Africa to China.

Merafe CEO Steve Phiri reports that no progress has been made to amend the Minerals and Petroleum Resources Development Act to give the Minister the powers to promulgate the regulations in order to determine the levels of ferrochrome beneficiation, which would at least help to limit the export of chrome ore.

Environmental aspects had bogged down the passage of an amendment though Parliament.

"There is a delay, and, from a legislative point of view, things are still where they were at the outset," Phiri, who last year spoke of the continuing "unbridled" export of raw chrome as "suicidal" for the country, tells Mining Weekly Online.

In the interim, Phiri says the situation had worsened and that even greater volumes of raw chromite ore were being exported from South Africa to China.

"We see more and more people getting into the chrome ore industry, and showing no signs of becoming integrated producers that beneficiate raw chromite ore into ferrochrome", he says, thus missing the opportunity for a tenfold value-addition lift.

Some platinum producers were also trading their upper-group-two chrome to China.

"The trade in raw chromite ore has become a major industry. It is a concern to the industry, but it would seem that it is going to be a phenomenon that is going to live with us," he says.

Merafe, which partners Xstrata, the world's largest ferrochrome producer, is now asking itself what to do in the circumstances.

"We are exporting small amounts, particularly foundry and chemical grade and small quantities of metallurgical grade, in order to understand the market dynamics.

"Whether we will increase what we are exporting or whether we will remain at the current level is something we are determining at this stage, and we haven't reached any decisions yet," Phiri says.

While the South African Parliament continues to dilly-dally over amending legislation, the Indian government acted in no time last year to stop Indian exports.

India has decimated raw ore exports through the imposition of a duty of $77/t on the ore exported.

The export of raw chrome ore is against the spirit of the beneficiation stance that government has taken.

It is now nearly two years since the South African government promised to put a cap on raw ore exportation.