Mozambique: Mozal Still Dominates Exports

Maputo — Despite the decline in the value of aluminium exports, the ingots produced at the MOZAL aluminium smelter on the outskirts of Maputo still account for well over half of Mozambique's export earnings. According to the latest figures from the government Export Promotion Institute (IPEX) l Mozambique's total exports rose from 2.41 billion US dollars in 2007 to 2.65 billion last year. The value of MOZAL's exports in this period fell from 1.48 to 1.45 billion dollars. As a percentage of all commodity exports, aluminium fell from 61.4 to 54.7 per cent. The second most important export, but way behind aluminium, is the electricity from the Cahora Bassa dam, exported mostly to South Africa and Zimbabwe. This earned the country 239.7 million dollars in 2007, and 221.2 million in 2008 (9.9 and 8.3 per cent respectively). The value of natural gas exports to South Africa rose from 120.7 million dollars in 2007 to 152 million in 2008. Of Mozambique's main cash crops, tobacco has become the most significant export earner. The value of tobacco exports rose from 51.8 million dollars in 2007 to 132.1 million last year. Sugar exports rose from 61.8 million to 71.4 million dollars, and cotton exports also improved, rising from 42 million to 48 million dollars. There has been a recovery in cashew exports. Exports of raw, unprocessed cashew nuts earned the country 10.8 million dollars in 2007, and 12.5 million in 2008. Over the same period, exports of processed cashew kernels rose from 8.9 to 10.9 million dollars. But exports of one traditional product, prawns, fell steeply, from 62.1 to 45 million dollars. The category of "other" exports rose from 252.7 to 422.4 million dollars. This increase is mostly accounted for by the export of titanium ores from the dredge mine run by the Irish company Kenmare at Moma, in the northern province of Nampula. 2008 was the first year of full production at Moma. Although exports rose, so did imports - and at a faster pace, so that the balance of trade deteriorated sharply. Imports rose from 3.05 billion dollars in 2007 to 3.8 billion in 2008 - an increase of almost 25 per cent. The deficit on the trade balance thus widened from 637.6 million to 1.15 billion dollars.