South32 said on Tuesday it was withdrawing its current production guidance for Mozal Aluminium as transport of raw materials to the smelter in Mozambique was currently being blocked by election-related civil unrest.
“We have implemented contingency plans to mitigate operational impacts and are working with relevant stakeholders,” South32 said in a statement. It added that the workforce was safe and there had been no security incidents at Mozal Aluminium itself.
In August, South32 forecast that Mozal would produce 360 000t of aluminium in the current financial year and 370 000t in the 2026 financial year, up from 314 000t in 2023/24. The anticipated increase in production would result from a recovery plan under way to return the operation to nameplate capacity in the first half of the 2026 financial year.
Mozal is the biggest industrial employer in Mozambique. It is 20kms west of Maputo, where more people were injured at the weekend in ongoing demonstrations and two nearby power stations were shut down by protestors, causing electricity shortages in the south of the country. The civil unrest has persisted since the early October election, largely incited by losing presidential candidate Venancio Modlane, who officially took 20% of the vote against 70% for Daniel Chapo, the candidate representing the ruling Frelimo party.
