Mercuria, Zambia to Ship First Copper Under New Partnership
(Bloomberg) -- Mercuria Energy Group and a Zambian state-owned company are set to ship their first copper under a new trading partnership after obtaining a government waiver to export a semi-processed form of the metal.
The venture, working with mining companies, has secured copper concentrates to sell, according to the Industrial Development Corp.
The government on June 28 suspended a 10% duty on 255,357 metric tons of concentrates exported via the IDC, according to regulations issued the day before. The waiver ends Oct. 1, the regulations show.
“What we’re trying to do is move up the value chain,” Mainga Mukando, chief investments officer at the IDC, said in a live stream this week. “We have begun to market our minerals, and we are active in buying concentrates from the mining houses in Zambia.”
Zambia’s partnership with Mercuria is part of a broader continental drive to derive more benefits from its mineral wealth and retain a greater share of the proceeds.
The southern African nation has accused exporters of using “creative accounting” to shift profits offshore. At the same time, smelters are clamoring for concentrates globally, with expansions in recent years helping to drive spot market terms to their lowest levels ever. That makes for a potentially lucrative trade for the IDC and Mercuria.
Concentrates from the local unit of Abu Dhabi-based International Resources Holding made up the biggest part of the waiver, at 100,000 tons, First Quantum Minerals Ltd.’s operations accounted for 50,357 tons and Vedanta Resources Ltd.’s local mines 55,000 tons, the regulation showed.
Mercuria declined to comment. The company’s partnership with IDC unit Industrial Resources Ltd. is a 50-50 venture.
hereNext Africa newsletter,AppleSpotify anywhere you listen
(Updates with comment in the fourth paragraph)
©2025 Bloomberg L.P.
