{"id":98430,"date":"2026-03-18T16:01:27","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T16:01:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/europe-loses-major-aluminium-supplier-as-smelter-idled"},"modified":"2026-03-18T16:50:19","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T16:50:19","slug":"europe-loses-major-aluminium-supplier-as-smelter-idled","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/europe-loses-major-aluminium-supplier-as-smelter-idled","title":{"rendered":"Europe Loses Major Aluminium Supplier as Smelter Idled"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

What You Need to Know<\/h4>\n

South32 Ltd. has idled its Mozambican aluminium smelter, the largest supplier to Europe, due to failed power supply negotiations. This closure tightens global aluminium supplies and significantly impacts Mozambique’s economy, which relies on the smelter for export earnings and economic output. The situation is exacerbated by rising electricity prices and supply issues in South Africa.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Africa-Press – Mozambique. <\/strong> <\/span>South32 Ltd. idled its Mozambican aluminium smelter, Europe\u2019s biggest source of the metal, after talks failed to secure an affordable power supply deal beyond this month, tightening global supplies just as the Iran war prompted Bahrain to curtail output at the world\u2019s biggest facility.<\/b><\/p>\n

South32 Ltd. idled its Mozambican aluminium smelter, Europe\u2019s biggest source of the metal, after talks failed to secure an affordable power supply deal beyond this month, tightening global supplies just as the Iran war prompted Bahrain to curtail output at the world\u2019s biggest facility.<\/p>\n

South32 confirmed in a statement on Monday that it had placed the 25-year-old operation on care and maintenance. Aluminum prices this month have soared to the highest since 2022.<\/p>\n

The Mozal smelter, located outside the capital Maputo, accounted for about one-fifth of Europe\u2019s raw aluminum imports last year, according to official trade data from Eurostat. It also made up around 2% of Mozambique\u2019s economic output, and nearly 20% of the southeast African nation\u2019s export earnings.<\/p>\n

The plant\u2019s idling ratchets up uncertainty in global aluminium markets already struggling with cutbacks at Bahrain\u2019s smelter. For Mozambique, it\u2019s a major blow to an economy that\u2019s already reeling and a government facing a deep fiscal crunch.<\/p>\n

South African electricity utility Eskom sells power to Mozal that it in turn sources from the Cahora Bassa hydropower plant located in Mozambique. Energy-intensive industries in both countries are struggling to remain viable as preferential-pricing deals that originally attracted them expire.<\/p>\n

Rising electricity prices and inconsistent supply have seen many of South Africa\u2019s 66 smelting operations close, with only 11 of them still working.<\/p>\n

South32 holds 63.7% of Mozal, with South Africa\u2019s Industrial Development Corp. owning 32.4%, and the Mozambican government the rest.<\/p>\n

The alumina supplied from the Worsley refinery in Australia to Mozal will now be sold to third-party customers at index-linked prices.<\/p>\n

The Mozal smelter, operational for 25 years, has been a crucial part of Mozambique’s economy, contributing significantly to export earnings and GDP. Its closure comes amid broader challenges in the region, including rising energy costs and the expiration of favorable pricing agreements, which have affected many smelting operations in South Africa and Mozambique alike. The idling of this facility marks a significant shift in the aluminium market, particularly for Europe, which has relied heavily on Mozambican supplies.<\/p>\n

Find more news and analyses on Mozambique<\/span> on the Africa Press<\/span> website<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What You Need to Know South32 Ltd. has idled its Mozambican aluminium smelter, the largest supplier to Europe, due to failed power supply negotiations. This closure tightens global aluminium supplies and significantly impacts Mozambique’s economy, which relies on the smelter for export earnings and economic output. The situation is exacerbated by rising electricity prices and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":98429,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5],"tags":[8324,925,8323,283,8116],"class_list":["post-98430","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-economy","tag-aluminium","tag-energy","tag-global-supply","tag-mozambique","tag-south32"],"yoast_head":"\nEurope Loses Major Aluminium Supplier as Smelter Idled - Mozambique<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"South32 has idled its Mozambican aluminium smelter, impacting Europe's supply and Mozambique's economy amid rising energy and\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/europe-loses-major-aluminium-supplier-as-smelter-idled\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Europe Loses Major Aluminium Supplier as Smelter Idled\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"South32 has idled its Mozambican aluminium smelter, impacting Europe's supply and Mozambique's economy amid rising energy and\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/europe-loses-major-aluminium-supplier-as-smelter-idled\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Mozambique\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-03-18T16:01:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-18T16:50:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/sites\/64\/2026\/03\/sm_1773851748.425204.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"849\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/europe-loses-major-aluminium-supplier-as-smelter-idled#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/europe-loses-major-aluminium-supplier-as-smelter-idled\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Europe Loses Major Aluminium Supplier as Smelter Idled\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-18T16:01:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-18T16:50:19+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/europe-loses-major-aluminium-supplier-as-smelter-idled\"},\"wordCount\":471,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/europe-loses-major-aluminium-supplier-as-smelter-idled#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/sites\/64\/2026\/03\/sm_1773851748.425204.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"aluminium\",\"energy\",\"global supply\",\"Mozambique\",\"South32\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"economy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/europe-loses-major-aluminium-supplier-as-smelter-idled#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/europe-loses-major-aluminium-supplier-as-smelter-idled\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/europe-loses-major-aluminium-supplier-as-smelter-idled\",\"name\":\"Europe Loses Major Aluminium Supplier as Smelter Idled - Mozambique\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/europe-loses-major-aluminium-supplier-as-smelter-idled#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/europe-loses-major-aluminium-supplier-as-smelter-idled#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/sites\/64\/2026\/03\/sm_1773851748.425204.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-18T16:01:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-18T16:50:19+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"South32 has idled its Mozambican aluminium smelter, impacting Europe's supply and Mozambique's economy amid rising energy and\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/europe-loses-major-aluminium-supplier-as-smelter-idled#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/europe-loses-major-aluminium-supplier-as-smelter-idled\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/europe-loses-major-aluminium-supplier-as-smelter-idled#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/sites\/64\/2026\/03\/sm_1773851748.425204.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/sites\/64\/2026\/03\/sm_1773851748.425204.jpg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":849,\"caption\":\"Europe Loses Major Aluminium Supplier as Smelter Idled\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/europe-loses-major-aluminium-supplier-as-smelter-idled#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Europe Loses Major Aluminium Supplier as Smelter Idled\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/\",\"name\":\"Mozambique\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cfeditoren\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Europe Loses Major Aluminium Supplier as Smelter Idled - Mozambique","description":"South32 has idled its Mozambican aluminium smelter, impacting Europe's supply and Mozambique's economy amid rising energy and","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/europe-loses-major-aluminium-supplier-as-smelter-idled","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Europe Loses Major Aluminium Supplier as Smelter Idled","og_description":"South32 has idled its Mozambican aluminium smelter, impacting Europe's supply and Mozambique's economy amid rising energy and","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/europe-loses-major-aluminium-supplier-as-smelter-idled","og_site_name":"Mozambique","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa","article_published_time":"2026-03-18T16:01:27+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-03-18T16:50:19+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1280,"height":849,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/sites\/64\/2026\/03\/sm_1773851748.425204.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/europe-loses-major-aluminium-supplier-as-smelter-idled#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/europe-loses-major-aluminium-supplier-as-smelter-idled"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"Europe Loses Major Aluminium Supplier as Smelter Idled","datePublished":"2026-03-18T16:01:27+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-18T16:50:19+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/europe-loses-major-aluminium-supplier-as-smelter-idled"},"wordCount":471,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/europe-loses-major-aluminium-supplier-as-smelter-idled#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/sites\/64\/2026\/03\/sm_1773851748.425204.jpg","keywords":["aluminium","energy","global supply","Mozambique","South32"],"articleSection":["all news","economy"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/europe-loses-major-aluminium-supplier-as-smelter-idled#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/europe-loses-major-aluminium-supplier-as-smelter-idled","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/europe-loses-major-aluminium-supplier-as-smelter-idled","name":"Europe Loses Major Aluminium Supplier as Smelter Idled - Mozambique","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/europe-loses-major-aluminium-supplier-as-smelter-idled#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/europe-loses-major-aluminium-supplier-as-smelter-idled#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/sites\/64\/2026\/03\/sm_1773851748.425204.jpg","datePublished":"2026-03-18T16:01:27+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-18T16:50:19+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"South32 has idled its Mozambican aluminium smelter, impacting Europe's supply and Mozambique's economy amid rising energy and","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/europe-loses-major-aluminium-supplier-as-smelter-idled#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/europe-loses-major-aluminium-supplier-as-smelter-idled"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/europe-loses-major-aluminium-supplier-as-smelter-idled#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/sites\/64\/2026\/03\/sm_1773851748.425204.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/sites\/64\/2026\/03\/sm_1773851748.425204.jpg","width":1280,"height":849,"caption":"Europe Loses Major Aluminium Supplier as Smelter Idled"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/europe-loses-major-aluminium-supplier-as-smelter-idled#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Europe Loses Major Aluminium Supplier as Smelter Idled"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/","name":"Mozambique","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cfeditoren"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98430","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98430"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98430\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98429"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98430"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98430"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}