Adds impact on South African miners from paragraph 5

JOHANNESBURG, Dec 10 (Reuters) - South32 S32.AX has withdrawn its output forecast for its Mozal Aluminium smelter in Mozambique amid post-election civil unrest, the Australian company said on Tuesday.

October's disputed election results sparked protests from opposition supporters and there has been escalating violence since.

South32, which has a 63.7% stake in the Mozal Aluminium smelter, said the unrest had led to road blockages that have hampered the delivery of raw materials to the plant.

It had previously estimated output of 360 kilotonnes from the smelter this fiscal year. The project contributed about 28% of South32's total aluminium output in fiscal 2024.

South African mining companies that ship minerals including chrome through the port of Maputo in Mozambique have also been hit by the unrest, which has on some days led to the closure of the main border between the neighbouring countries.

South African companies have grown increasingly reliant on routing cargo via the Maputo port as state-owned logistics group Transnet struggles to provide adequate freight rail and port services.

A spokesperson for miner Tharisa THST.L, which ships chrome via Maputo, told Reuters that the company had been affected by the latest border closure.

"It's a significant amount of trucks that we have on the road," said Ilja Graulich, adding that Tharisa may consider declaring a force majeure to its customers if the latest border closure is prolonged.

(Reporting by Felix Njini in Johannesburg and Sherin Sunny in Bengaluru. Editing by Savio D'Souza and Mark Potter)

((Sherin.Sunny@thomsonreuters.com;))