Criminal chrome Part 2: Stainful steel — Illegal chrome mining free-for-all taints the world’s stainless steel value chain

South Africa’s illicit chrome trade is leaving a stain on one of the world’s most ubiquitous industrial materials. Ore extracted from unregulated mines and washed at illegal plants enters a market whose main destination is China, where chrome is smelted into ferrochrome, a key ingredient in stainless steel.

The metal is everywhere: in cutlery, cookware, kettles, refrigerators and sinks, as well as buildings, bridges, vehicle exhaust systems, surgical tools, implants, power stations, firearms and spacecraft. That reach gives illegally mined chrome a wider potential impact than conflict diamonds, which helped drive the creation of the Kimberley Process in 2003, or illicit gold, which has raised concerns about laundering through international hubs.

The vast majority of global chrome production remains legitimate, and clean producers do not want illegal material entering their supply chains. But tracking the dirty share is difficult. Minerals Council South Africa data shows that South Africa exported chrome worth R84.6 billion worldwide in 2024. China received R40.8 billion, equivalent to about $2.2 billion at the average exchange rate for the year.

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Greater scrutiny is needed across the value chain over transporters, buyers, processors and exporters to ensure illegally mined chrome cannot be laundered into legitimate markets. Action is often limited to the Tier 1 (on-the-ground illegal miner) versus tier 4 (the buyer of the finished product) criminal who was arrested in the operation.

Sibanye-Stillwater CEO Richard Stewart said scrutiny must extend beyond miners on the ground to transporters, buyers, processors and exporters. “Greater scrutiny is needed across the value chain over transporters, buyers, processors and exporters to ensure illegally mined chrome cannot be laundered into legitimate markets. Action is often limited to the Tier 1 (on-the-ground illegal miner) versus tier 4 (the buyer of the finished product) criminal who was arrested in the operation,” he told Daily Maverick.

Stewart said authorities rarely establish links to the people enabling the trade, particularly buyers. “We seldom see any linkage to the enablers of these crimes along the full value chain, to the buyers. Most critically, these products only have value if they are able to leave South Africa’s shores to fulfil the international demand.”

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We seldom see any linkage to the enablers of these crimes along the full value chain, to the buyers. Most critically, these products only have value if they are able to leave South Africa’s shores to fulfil the international demand.