Zambian Copper Output Up 60%

By Joel ScanlonMar 6 2011

The copper output for Zambia in January went up 60% compared to the production in January in 2010. The country is busy increasing its copper production so as to be able to benefit from the strong global price for copper as per the Central Bank of Zambia.

The production of copper in January 2010 was 58,263 tons while the production in January 2011 was 92,958 tons. Zambia is the largest copper producing country in Africa. The exports in January also increased 39% from last year to 78,912 tons. The stockpiling causes export figures to be lower than the production figures.

Spokesman Kanguya Mayondi for the bank said that mining companies are investing in expansion projects in order to make the most out of the favourable prices. This is also the reason why cobalt output has dropped in the month of January 2011 to 728 tonnes from 800 tonnes last January. Exports also dropped to 734 tonnes from 741 tonnes for cobalt.

The Bank of Zambia also projected that copper output for the current year would rise to 900,000 tonnes as compared to last year’s production of 819,159 tonnes. This would be in part possible due to the resumption of copper production output at Luanshya Copper Mines which had closed in 2008 amid low global metal prices.