Copper market’s biggest whale fuels speculation of a major shift
The world’s single biggest buyer of copper, State Grid Corp. of China, has slowed its purchases of copper wire this year.
Zambia expects to decide on an investor to take over Mopani Copper Mines by the end of this month from a shortlist of four companies, the country’s Finance and National Planning Minister said Sunday evening.
China’s Zijin Mining, Norinco Group, Sibanye Stillwater and an investment vehicle owned by ex-Glencore Plc officials are short-listed to buy Mopani, Reuters reported last week.
“Right now, they are being asked to put in their last, final bids,” with a the selection of one investor expected by the end of July, Situmbeko Musokotwane said in an interview on state-owned Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation TV.
Zambia’s majority state-owned ZCCM Investments Holdings Plc agreed in January 2021 to buy Mopani from Glencore for $1 and $1.5 billion in debt, which it has yet to pay.
The government expects a similar time frame for a resolution for Konkola Copper Mines, Musokotwane said. Vedanta Resources Ltd. is bogged down in legal challenges with the Zambian government over its ownership of Konkola, which dates back to 2019.
(By Taonga Mitimingi)
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