Maputo, June 19, 2026 (Lusa) - Mozambique’s production of graphite, used in electric vehicle batteries, soared in the first three months of 2026 to 28,018 tonnes – double the figure initially forecast for the whole year.
“Production levels were influenced by the operational consistency of the largest producer of this mineral and the entry into the market of a new company in Niassa, which contributed to a 189% achievement against the target,” states a government document on mining production results for the first quarter.
This performance contrasts with the government’s forecast for this year, which stood at 14,814 tonnes of graphite – a revision from previous estimates for 2025, which had initially pointed to 13,468 tonnes, a figure then constrained by the post-election unrest still affecting the country.
However, Mozambique ended 2025 with actual production of 67,078 tonnes of graphite, although it did not produce any graphite in the first quarter due to the closure of the main plant in Balama, Cabo Delgado, which supplies the US electric vehicle battery market, following the protests that erupted after the general election in October 2024, for more than five months.
In 2022, graphite production in Mozambique reached a record 165,900 tonnes, but the following year it fell to 97,300 tonnes, and in 2024 it dropped by 64% to 34,900 tonnes, due to production stoppages.
The president said on 30 January that the new graphite processing plant, which he inaugurated that day in Niassa province, represents an opportunity for Mozambique to establish itself in the global market as a supplier of processed minerals, where there is high demand for ‘high-purity graphite’, breaking away from the ‘traditional model of simply exporting raw materials’.
Built in the district of Nipepe, some 400 kilometres from the city of Lichinga, the capital of Niassa province in northern Mozambique, the Chinese-funded plant covers an area of 2,469 hectares, has been valued at around $200 million (€165.7 million), and has an annual production and processing capacity of 200,000 tonnes of graphite.
This facility employs 1,090 workers, a figure expected to rise to over 2,000 once it reaches full production capacity, according to the company.
PVJ/ADB // ADB.
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