Zambia’s copper smelters plan extended shutdowns

Two of Zambia’s largest copper smelters and sulphuric acid producers will shut for extended maintenance later this year, two industry sources said, further squeezing copper output and supplies of the chemical used to process copper and cobalt.

The Iran war has disrupted global supplies of the critical acid and other leaching chemicals, prompting mines in neighbouring Congo – the world’s top cobalt and second-largest copper producer – to cut usage or consider output cuts.

Copper smelters in Zambia – Africa’s No.2 producer of the metal vital for clean energy technologies – generate about 2 million metric tons of sulphuric acid a year, mostly as a byproduct used by local mines, the mines ministry says, with excess exported to the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The southern African country’s own sulphuric acid stocks are so depleted there is effectively no capacity to export, the Zambia head of Canada’s First Quantum Minerals told Reuters separately, as miners in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo also struggle with tightening chemical supplies.

The mines ministry did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.

Mopani’s overdue maintenance

Although copper smelters shut annually for routine maintenance spanning 30 days, Mopani and Chambishi, which is 85% owned by China Nonferrous Metal Mining Group, face longer outages this year, a chemicals trading source said.

Mopani, which has not been maintained for a while, is scheduled to close for three days in June, followed by an extended shutdown of about 40 to 45 days between August and mid‑September, a mining executive told Reuters.

Mopani and Chambishi officials did not respond to Reuters requests for comment.

The sources asked for anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the matter.

Chambishi is scheduled to shut down for about two months through August, the chemicals trader said, without elaborating on what prompted the planned extended outage.

Zambia tightened controls of sulphuric acid exports this month, requiring traders to secure permits. It said the move was aimed at protecting local industry.

The measures are fair, but exports are unlikely in the near term, Anthony Mukutuma, First Quantum’s country director in Zambia, told Reuters.

Global copper supply expected to fall

Global copper supply will tighten this year after years of underinvestment constrained mine output growth. Zambia produced 890,346 tons of the red metal ​last year, below a 1 million-ton target.

Congo’s copper exports, meanwhile, fell in the first quarter of this year, according to shipping data seen by Reuters.

Mopani is operating well below its 225,000‑metric‑ton finished copper capacity after years of underinvestment left it short of copper concentrate, the mining executive said. The majority owner, UAE’s International Resources Holding, is developing and mining concurrently, forcing intermittent stoppages and further constraining output, said the mining executive.

(By Chris Mfula and Maxwell Akalaare Adombila; Editing by Veronica Brown and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)