South32 withdraws production guidance for its aluminium smelter in Mozambique
Australian miner South32 Ltd. has withdrawn production guidance for its aluminium smelter in Mozambique due to widespread and deadly protests in the African country.
The transport of raw materials to the Mozal plant is being impacted by road blockages, the company said in an exchange filing on Tuesday, but the workforce is safe and there have been no security incidents. The miner had forecast 360,000 tons of aluminium output from the smelter, which is near the capital Maputo, in the financial year through June 2025.
Mozambique has been rocked by protests over disputed elections in early October. At least 90 fatalities have been reported, most of them demonstrators shot during clashes with police. Hundreds have been injured and thousands arrested.
“There’s a large amount of civil unrest there, so that’s having some impact on our ability to move supplies around,” South32 Chief Executive Officer Graham Kerr said in an interview. “It’s manageable at this stage. It’s something we need to watch.”
South32 has implemented contingency plans to mitigate operational impacts, it said in the filing, without providing further details.
