Mozal Essay

510 Words3 Pages
Financing the Mozal Project. Kimura and Husain of IFC were recommending a $120 million investment in the Mozal project, a $1.4B aluminum smelter in Mozambique. This project was consistent with the IFC’s mission of promoting private sector investment in developing countries as a way to reduce poverty and improve people’s live. The Mozal project was a joint venture between Alusaf and IDC. Alusaf was the aluminum subsidiary of the Gencor Group. IDC was a government owned development bank and its mission was to contribute to sustainable growth. Alusaf and IDC would each own 25% of Mozal. Mitsubishi Corporation was the leading candidate for the ownership of the remaining 50%. The industry demand of aluminum stood at 20 million tons per year and was expected to grow 2% and 3% per year. In the beginning 3 parties were interested in the Mozal project: Eskom, Alusaf, and Mozambican government. Eskam was the South African power utility wanted to expand its operations outside of South Africa. Alusaf wanted to build another aluminum smelter. Those two entities together with the government developed the Mozal project that provided Mozambique with new electrical and industrial infrastructure, Eskom with an entrée into Mozambique and a customer for its excess power, and Alusaf with a new smelter and access to competitively-prices power. Mozal would have an overall capital cost of $4,750 per ton. Costs. The major inputs needed to produce aluminum were alumina, electricity, labor and other raw materials. The price of alumina was set as a function of the LME aluminum prices. Unlike alumina prices, which were set in competitive markets, albeit under long-term contracts, electricity prices were negotiated prices. This meant that electricity was the most important determinant of a plant’s competitive position. Labor and raw materials were less important, the skilled labor and

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