Mozal put into “care and maintenance”

Maputo, 16 Mar (AIM) – The Mozal aluminium smelter, on the outskirts of Maputo, confirmed on Monday that the smelter has been placed on a “care and maintenance” regime, and so is no longer producing and exporting aluminium ingots.

The Mozal release blamed this near-shutdown on “the incapacity to guarantee sufficient electricity at competitive prices”.

The company said it had held discussions “with the relevant parties to guarantee the electricity necessary to continue its operations beyond March 2026, when the current electricity agreement expires”.

“Unfortunately, it was not possible to reach an agreement on the electricity price that would allow the smelter to remain competitive internationally”, Mozal claimed.

Finding an acceptable price was made even more difficult “by the drought conditions that affected Hidroelectrica de Cahora Bassa (HCB), where Mozal used to obtain the greater part of its electricity”.

To operate fully, Mozal needs 960 megawatts of power. Under current conditions, HCB cannot supply that amount of electricity. The alternative supplier would be the South African power company, Eskom, which also claims that it cannot provide the amount of electricity that Mozal needs.

Cited by the release,

Samuel Gudo, Mozal Deputy President of operations, declared “We are proud of the history and significant contribution of Mozal to the Mozambican economy in the 25 years of its operations”.

“Above all, we are proud of our people who worked at Mozal, who were fundamental for the gains we made”, he said. “They behaved in a professional and dignified manner during a very challenging period, while we were making the transition to a care and maintenance regime”.

“This is not the result we wanted”, said Gudo. “In the last six years, we have been fully engaged with the Mozambican government, Eskom and other key stakeholders to guarantee an energy contract for Mozal which would have allowed it to continue to operate, and to remain a viable and competitive business globally”.

Theoretically, the smelter can resume aluminium production. But switching all the furnaces back on would take at least 12 months, and no other company has yet expressed an interest in taking over the smelter.
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