Zambia is expecting its annual copper production to rise by 13.6pc to 1mn mt in FY2021 due to growing demand in the electric vehicles sector, rising copper prices, and more small mines coming into production, the Zambian government said, according to media reports.
The country’s planned output for the current year (FY20) is 880,000mt. It has urged all companies in the copper industry to focus on increasing copper production.
The country is in dire need of currency after it missed a coupon payment on one of its dollar-denominated bonds and defaulted.
Copper prices have risen to their highest levels since February 2013. Zambia’s top foreign exchange earner is copper as the country is the second-largest producer of copper in Africa. Hence, the government is encouraging the industry to increase the production of copper.
Apart from that, an ongoing review of the Mines and Minerals Act seeks more local and foreign investment in mining and exploration. The country had recently also scrapped a 10pc levy on imports of copper concentrates. In the first half of the current year (H1 FY20), the country’s copper production stood at 646,111mt.