The closure of Africa’s second-largest aluminium smelter is already claiming casualties beyond its own gates, with at least five companies at Mozambique’s Beluluane Industrial Park having ceased operations ahead of Mozal’s entry into care and maintenance on 15 March 2025 and more are expected to follow.
“At this moment, we are already counting an average of five companies that have ceased operations, those most closely linked to production, because there are also companies handling electrical maintenance, industrial maintenance and so on. Currently, around five companies have completely halted activities with no prospect of resuming,” said Onório Manuel, Director-General of MozParks, the entity that manages the park.
Of an estimated 25 companies supplying goods and services to Mozal, most have indicated they are considering similar measures in response to the smelter’s suspension, Manuel told Lusa. Some had remained operational until now specifically because they were directly involved in the safe shutdown process.
The human cost is considerable. Mozal itself employs over 1,000 workers directly and a further 4,000 indirectly. The park-wide fallout puts approximately 4,000 additional jobs at risk across the smelter’s supply chain. “We are talking about numerous positions in companies linked to Mozal’s value chain, not necessarily within Mozal itself,” saidManuel.
The economic consequences extend well beyond the park’s boundaries. Mozal has contributed an average of 49% of Mozambique’s manufacturing sector output, worth around US$1.6 billion or roughly 10% of a national GDP of US$16 billion. The arithmetic is stark as the shutdown of a single facility could measurably reduce the country’s GDP, with ripple effects on public spending and social services.
Manuel warned that the reputational damage compounds the direct economic impact. “News of Mozal’s shutdown reaches international markets with an interest in Mozambique, bringing a set of risks that discourages investment, particularly large-scale projects,” noted Manuel.
At the root of the closure is a dispute over electricity costs. Australian operator South32 described the proposed power tariff as “entirely unsustainable,” with South Africa’s Eskom having offered supply at nearly US$100 per megawatt-hour, almost double the threshold above which fewer than 1% of smelters outside China operate, according to South32 CEO Graham Kerr. The company has not ruled out reactivating the plant if conditions change.
