Mozambique’s minister of the economy and finance, Max Tonela, said last week that the country has plenty of graphite to meet the demand for electric cars in the European Union (EU), advocating business partnerships to this end.
There are no electric motors without graphite, there are no batteries without lithium, there are no magnets without heavy sands. Structured partnerships between Europeans and Mozambicans can and must alleviate this demand and contribute to the acceleration of Mozambique’s industrialisation,” said Tonela.
He was speaking during the first Mozambique – European Union Investment Forum “Creating Business Opportunities”, which is taking place in Maputo until Thursday.
Mozambique has the capacity to ensure the sustainable supply of critical raw materials listed by the EU for its market, added Max Tonela.
“European companies should capitalise on synergies that add value to Mozambique and at the same time open up new markets for European products,” stressed Tonela.
The minister of the economy and finance also said that Mozambique and the EU are in a position to jointly position themselves at the forefront of the green energy transition, combining the African country’s natural resources and European technological excellence.
“We have a diversity of renewable resources,” but “these resources must be used to make our energy matrix more diversified and to consolidate Mozambique’s position as an energy hub in the southern African region,” emphasised Max Tonela.
The African country, he continued, wants to count on small and medium-sized European companies to process its raw materials locally.
“European companies should not limit their options to the energy and hydrocarbon sectors alone. The manufacturing industry plays a key role in the development of our economy because it can contribute to increasing and diversifying the production base and improving living standards,” he emphasised.
According to the minister, the local transformation of exported goods with a current low level of processing represents an excellent investment opportunity, particularly in agricultural production and minerals such as graphite, heavy sands and lithium.
Mozambique expects to produce more than 329,040 tonnes of graphite next year, the raw material needed to produce batteries for electric vehicles, an increase of more than 180% compared to this year’s performance, according to the government’s forecast.
In the document supporting the proposal for the Economic and Social Plan of the 2024 state budget (PESOE), which Lusa previously reported, the government states that graphite production “will increase significantly” next year, compared to the 2023 projections.
For the estimate, the document reads, the plans of the two companies that produce this mineral were taken into account, despite the fact that by the first half of 2023 it was “at a 22 % realisation”, due to the “weak demand for this ore on the international market”, which led Twigg Mining and Exploration [a subsidiary of Syrah Resources Limitada], the largest producer, “to temporarily interrupt its mining and processing activities in the months of May and June”.
The estimated production of 329,040 tonnes of graphite in 2024 represents an increase of 180.2% compared to what is expected for this year, according to the government data included in the report.
Mozambique produced 120,000 tonnes of graphite in 2020, a performance that fell to 77,116 tonnes the following year, while the estimates for 2022 and 2023 were 182,024 and 117,416 tonnes respectively.