Africa’s Second-Largest Aluminium Plant on the Brink of Shutdown

Africa’s second-largest aluminium smelter may halt operations in March after owner South32 Ltd. failed to secure a new electricity supply deal before its current agreement expires.

South32 said the Mozal plant, located just outside Mozambique’s capital Maputo, would become unviable under a proposed new tariff set to replace its existing rate early next year.

A shutdown would jeopardise the jobs of 2,500 workers and contractors in a country already grappling with high youth unemployment, Bloomberg reported.

Aluminium was Mozambique’s third-largest export last year, earning $1.1 billion, all from Mozal. South32 has already booked a $372 million write-down linked to the possible closure. Shares fell 6.3% on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange by late afternoon Thursday.

If Mozal closes, roughly 950 megawatts of power could be freed up.

Joaquim Ou-Chim, CEO of state utility Electricidade de Moçambique, has suggested the electricity could be sold regionally to meet soaring demand from copper producers in Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, both battling severe shortages.

Electricity was Mozambique’s fourth-largest export last year, valued at $689 million.

The government has set an ambitious target to connect 300 million people in sub-Saharan Africa to electricity by 2030, tackling a deficit in a region where more than 80% of the world’s 680 million people without power reside.

Mozambique is also charting a path toward a future powered by both sustainable energy and liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Plans include restarting the $20 billion LNG project led by TotalEnergies and securing World Bank funding for what would be Southern Africa’s largest hydropower project in 50 years.