JOHANNESBURG - South African utility Eskom on Friday sought regulatory approval ​for a discounted electricity ⁠tariff of 0.62 rand ($0.0377) per kilowatt hour for struggling ferrochrome producers ‌Samancor Chrome and a joint venture between Glencore and Merafe Resources.

Eskom has submitted an ​application to regulator Nersa after saying in February that it would offer the two distressed companies ​a further ​29% reduction in electricity prices in an effort to avert thousands of job losses.

South Africa, the world's biggest chrome ore producer, has lost ⁠its position as the world's top processor of chrome into ferrochrome to China mainly due to high electricity costs.

South African smelters have been hit by a roughly tenfold increase in electricity costs since 2008, forcing dozens of plants ​to shut.

State-owned Eskom said ⁠on Friday ⁠that the discounted tariff would not require higher consumer tariffs, additional borrowing or further government financial ​support.

The Glencore-Merafe joint venture had previously said it was ‌unhappy with certain conditions attached to the lower 0.62 ⁠rand a kilowatt hour power price.

In a statement on Friday it said some of the terms attached to the reduced tariff had been revised, and that it now provisionally accepted them "subject to certain clarification points".

"This development represents a significant and positive step forward in the venture's ongoing efforts to support ferrochrome beneficiation in South Africa," it added, saying it had extended a consultation process on potential job cuts for another month until May 11.

Samancor declined to comment on its job cut procedures, which ⁠it said were "subject to multiple factors that are ​still being assessed".

It has previously said conditions attached to the discounted tariff were not viable. Samancor resumed procedures to lay off workers in March.

Energy-intensive smelters combine ​chromium and ‌iron to produce ferrochrome, which is mainly used in steel ⁠production.

($1 = 16.4503 rand)