Mozambique: Mozal delivers on recovery plan, on track to meet production guidance

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Mozambique: Mozal delivers on recovery plan, on track to meet production guidance

8:39 CAT | 17 Apr 2025

File photo: South32

Mozal aluminium production for nine months rose 12% to 265,000 tonnes from 237,000 tonnes, and production was up 23% to 87,000 tonnes in the third quarter from 71,000 tonnes, South32 announced today. The Beluluane-based smelter’s production guidance for the fiscal year ending in June remains unchanged at 350,000 tones.

South32 on Thursday described its production performance for the nine months of its financial year as “strong” with CEO Graham Kerr highlining a six per cent increase in aluminium “as Mozal Aluminium managed the impacts of civil unrest in Mozambique and approached nameplate capacity in the quarter”.

“Mozal Aluminium saleable production increased by 12% (or 28,000 tones) to 265,000 tones in the nine months ended March 2025 as the operation delivered its recovery plan and subsequently mitigated the impacts of civil unrest in Mozambique from the December 2024 quarter,” South32 announced.

According to South32’s quarterly report,”operating conditions in Mozambique improved during the March 2025 quarter,” enabling Mozal “to approach nameplate production rates to finish the period”.

Furthermore, Mozal’s production guidance for the fiscal year ending in June remains unchanged at 350,000 tones.

Mozal registered a 18% decrease in sales in the March 2025 quarter “as the operation managed product availability following the decision in the prior quarter to temporarily reduce amperage to the smelter to manage raw material stocks”, South32 reports. However, it expects to drawdown inventory in the June 2025 quarter.

Future power supply to Mozal is a matter South32 hopes to settle with the government before the end of the current fiscal year .

“We continue to work with Eskom and the Government of the Republic of Mozambique to extend the smelter’s hydro-electric power supply beyond March 2026, as there are currently no viable alternative suppliers of renewable energy at the required scale,” South32 CEO Graham Kerr is cited as saying in the report.

Mozal buys its power from the South African electricity company Eskom but, in reality, the power is Mozambican, Kerr told journalist in Maputo last year.. This is because Eskom buys 1,150 megawatts from the Mozambican company, Hidroeléctrica de Cahora Bassa (HCB), which operates the Cahora Bassa dam on the Zambezi river. Eskom then sells 950 megawatts to Mozal. There is still no electricity transmission line from the Zambezi Valley to Maputo, and so HCB power must reach Mozal via Eskom.

“We remain focused on finalising a new energy supply agreement during this fiscal year to enable the smelter to continue to operate and maintain its substantial contribution to the economy of Mozambique,” Graham Kerr states.

READ: Mozambique: New power supply contract priority for Mozal

“Looking ahead, our focus on operating discipline, active cost management and a strong balance sheet leaves us well positioned to manage a period of potential uncertainty in global markets,”South32’s Chief Executive Officer adds.

The Mozal Aluminium Smelter is located within the Beluluane Industrial Park, managed by MozParks, in Boane district of Maputo province, southern Mozambique.

Source: Club of Mozambique / South32 / AIM