Working to the eleventh hour: Companies face a nightmare as closure of Mozal, Mozambique’s largest industry, looms

Companies in Beluluane Industrial Park, Mozambique’s largest industrial park, are assessing their situation, as around 40% of industries there still provide services to Mozal, Africa’s largest aluminium smelter, which will suspend operations on 15 March. The imminent halt of Mozal — also the largest industry in Mozambique, employing over 1,000 direct and 4,000 indirect workers — creates uncertainty for neighbouring companies within the Park, located 20 kilometres from Maputo, such as Dendustri. An employee works at the Mozal facilities in Maputo province, southern Mozambique, 26 February 2026.

[Photo: Lusa/Lina Cebola] Founded in 2008, Dendustri anticipates possible closure should this “catastrophe” materialise, after an investment of US$12 million, potentially leaving nearly 50 employees unemployed. “Mozal accounts for 95% of our revenue, of our business. Essentially, Dendustri exists to serve Mozal.

We established another unit, which we hoped would diversify our risk — the TLC precision technology — but we were a little unlucky in that area, as the market is currently very weak and there is limited demand for that type of work,” Mohamad Aboubakar, Dendustri’s representative in Mozambique, told Lusa. With Mozal in the background, where aluminium-laden trucks continue to depart, Dendustri continues producing anode rods for the neighbouring smelter. Like many others in the Park, it appears there is little else it can do but plan for closure if Mozal suspends operations on 15 March, as announced by the smelter, due to a dispute over electricity tariffs.

[paywall]

Worker welding aluminium at Dendustri in Maputo province, Mozambique, 26 February 2026. [Photo: Lusa/Lina Cebola] According to August data from MozParks, manager of Beluluane Industrial Park — which has expanded to provide services to the smelter — local industries’ reliance on services for Mozal has been declining. At that time, around 60% of these companies no longer provided services to Mozal.

In total, over 60 companies operate in the Park, offering 12,000 jobs, eight thousand of which are already outside Mozal’s supply chain. As Lusa observed on site, concern is widespread across the Park, and many companies are already assessing potential closures, as Mozal remains their sole client, particularly in heavy industry. READ:South32 CEO says it’s too late for an energy deal at Mozal Business leaders prefer to remain silent, awaiting confirmation of Mozal’s entry into a suspension and maintenance regime, despite the smelter itself proceeding with collective redundancies. Dendustri is holding out hope for a domestic market that still requires substantial industrial input, while recognising that turning these alternatives into reality has been difficult due to weak demand and Mozambique’s economic challenges.

[/paywall]