Europe Loses Top Aluminum Supplier With Mozambique Smelter Idled

South32 Ltd. idled its Mozambican aluminum smelter, Europe’s biggest source of the metal, after talks failed to secure an affordable power supply deal beyond this month, tightening global supplies just as the Iran war prompted Bahrain to curtail output at the world’s biggest facility.

South32 confirmed in a statement on Monday that it had placed the 25-year-old operation on care and maintenance. Aluminum prices this month have soared to the highest since 2022.