MELBOURNE (Reuters) -Australian diversified miner South32 on Monday flagged an impairment to its Mozal aluminium smelter in Mozambique and said that its production was under review because it has not been able to secure affordable power prices after March 2026.
South32 said it has been in talks for six years with hydroelectric power supplier Hidroeléctrica de Cahora Bassa (HBC), which is majority owned by the Mozambique government, about a power tariff which is due to expire in March 2026.
Its agreement is to take power from the provider when it cannot secure power from its primary provider, South Africa’s Eskom.
“HCB has also recently indicated that drought conditions have the potential to impact its electricity generation and capacity to deliver sufficient hydro-electric power to Mozal,” South32 said in an exchange filing.
“These factors have resulted in increased uncertainty regarding future electricity supply to Mozal.
Given the uncertainty of operating beyond March 2026, FY26 production guidance for Mozal is under review.”
Mozal produced 314,000 tonnes of aluminium in the 2024 financial year. The miner will log its quarterly operations review on July 21.
(Reporting by Melanie Burton; Editing by Kim Coghill)
