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Monday, 12 January 2026: The results of Eskom’s Generation Recovery Plan that commenced in April 2023 have enabled South Africa to return from the holiday break to a structurally stronger system entering 2026 than in five years, with an additional 4 400MW of capacity available compared to this time last year. Stability is reflected not only in terms of structural improvements in the generation fleet, but in fewer emergency interventions and improved maintenance discipline.

Since April 2023, the results of the delivery of the plan include:

• The Energy Availability Factor (EAF) has risen from 56.03% to 64.55%. During the current financial year, from 1 April 2025 to date, the fleet has achieved or exceeded the 70% benchmark on 55 occasions.
• Scheduled maintenance, also known as Planned Capacity Loss Factor (PCLF), reached a high of 12.76% in Financial Year (FY) 2025 following an intensive period of maintenance, and is currently at 9.32%, trending towards the global-best practice for power systems.
• The Unplanned Capacity Loss Factor (UCLF) declined from 31.92% to 16.02%.
• The savings from diesel usage in FY2025 were around R16 billion and continue to decrease in FY26, due to the reliability of the coal fleet increasing, enabling the safe reduction in the use of the open-cycle gas turbines (OCGTs), which play a vital role in providing emergency support during periods of supply shortage.

(Bloomberg) — Copper rose toward a record, as base metals opened the week in bullish form aided by concerns over supplies and a weaker dollar.

Three-month futures rose as much as 1.5% to $13,195 a ton in London, as aluminum and tin traded at the highest levels since 2022. The red metal used in wires and cables has gained more than 20% since mid-November on bets that a flow of metal to the US — ahead of the Trump administration’s decision on import tariffs — will leave the rest of the world short of supply.

Investors were also grappling with the implications of the US Justice Department threatening the Federal Reserve with a criminal indictment, which Chair Jerome Powell said was part of a campaign by the Trump administration to influence interest-rate decisions. The dollar fell, boosting commodities.

Metals have enjoyed a strong rally over the new year period, with the catch-all LMEX Index posting four weekly gains, the best run since August. Investors have been piling into hard assets seen as possible winners from US monetary easing, a weaker dollar, and the fracturing of supply chains. Copper hit a fresh peak last week, while aluminum and nickel both surged on Friday.

Copper holdings in Comex-tracked warehouses — one barometer of shifts in global holdings — have expanded for 42 weeks straight to a record.

Copper was 0.9% higher at $13,116.50 a ton on the London Metal Exchange at 11:14 a.m. in Shanghai. Among other metals, aluminum was up 0.7%, set for the highest close since April 2022 in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Tin rose more than 3%, taking gains since the start of the year to 16%.

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.