Copper production by the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in 2020 increased by 11.8pc from the prior year to 1.587mn mt. According to more data from DRC’s Ministry of Mines, the weekly average exports of copper cathodes since January 2021 were between 22,000 and 34,000mt.
The industry in Congo took a hit in 2020 when global battery-metal prices plunged as an outcome of the COVID-19 pandemic. But price rally of copper on the LME aided producers to raise output.