DRC: Copper growth slows to a crawl

Published Jul 18, 2014

Share

Growth in copper production in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) would slow this year from its rapid pace last year due to insufficient energy supply and uncertainty over new mining laws, the country’s mining chamber said yesterday. Copper production leapt to a record 914 631 tons last year from 620 000 tons in 2012 as new mining projects and expansion plans came online. In a report on the first quarter of this year, the mining chamber predicted that copper output this year would inch up to 922 000 tons, for annual growth of just 0.82 percent compared with the 47 percent leap the year before. The mining sector helped drive economic growth of 8.5 percent in the DRC last year, which is forecast to improve further to 8.7 percent this year. – Reuters

Related Topics: