More copper concentrates from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) could be diverted after ERG suspended its Chambishi copper smelting facility in Zambia, multiple market sources said.
ERG told Fastmarkets on Thursday February 14 of its decision to halt the 55,000 tonne-per-year Chambishi copper operation following the implementation of the 5% import duty on cobalt and copper concentrates imported into Zambia starting this year. Like many other Zambian copper smelting complexes, Chambishi sources feed from the neighboring DRC, including from ERG's Boss Mine and Frontier Mine. The suspension could mean that feed of up to 13,750 tonnes per month of copper concentrates originally destined for Chambishi could have to be resold to other smelters, either for local consumption or in overseas markets. This adds to the extra feed freed...