Africa’s second-largest copper producer buys more time for miners to offload stockpiles as major smelting facilities remain offline for repairs
LUSAKA — Zambia has extended a critical tax waiver on copper concentrate exports, giving the country’s struggling mining sector more breathing room as several of its largest smelting facilities remain shut down for maintenance and repairs.
The government has pushed back the suspension of a 10% export duty on unprocessed copper concentrate to September 30, allowing miners to continue shipping raw material overseas without facing additional tax penalties. The move comes as technical challenges at major smelters have left mining companies sitting on growing stockpiles of concentrate they cannot yet process domestically.
The waiver, which was first introduced in August 2025, covers a total of 271,742 metric tons of copper concentrates across six mining companies operating in the country, according to a government notice seen by Reuters on Wednesday.
Zambia is Africa’s second-largest copper producer and a critical supplier of the red metal that powers everything from electric vehicles to global power grids. The country predominantly exports copper in its most refined form — processed cathodes — rather than raw concentrate, making the current situation an unusual and costly disruption to normal operations.
When smelters go offline, miners face a difficult choice: halt production entirely, or stockpile unprocessed concentrate and hope processing capacity returns quickly. The duty waiver gives companies a third option — export the concentrate directly — preventing a costly backlog from building up and keeping revenue flowing while repairs are completed.
Without the waiver, miners would face a 10% tax on every ton of concentrate shipped abroad, a significant financial hit at a time when operations are already under pressure.
The Export Quotas Explained
The government notice allocates duty-free export quotas to six mining companies, with Zambia’s largest operators receiving the biggest allowances:
- Mopani Copper Mines — 100,000 metric tons (largest quota)
- Barrick Mining Corp’s Lumwana Mining Company — 56,986 metric tons
- First Quantum Minerals — approximately 43,000 metric tons
- Nkana Mining and Minerals Processing (Chinese-owned) — approximately 43,000 metric tons
- Lubambe Copper Mine (70% owned by China’s JCHX Mining) — 15,000 metric tons
- Vedanta’s Konkola Copper Mines — 12,541 metric tons
Mopani Copper Mines, jointly owned by Abu Dhabi-based International Resources Holdingand Zambia’s state mining investment company ZCCM-IH, receives by far the largest allocation — nearly 37% of the total quota. The company’s smelter at Mufulira is among the facilities understood to be undergoing significant repairs.
Zambia’s Bigger Copper Ambitions
The timing of the smelter crisis is particularly awkward for Lusaka. Zambia exported 890,346 metric tons of copper in 2025 and has set an ambitious target of reaching three million tons of annual output by 2031 — more than three times current levels.
Achieving that goal will require sustained investment in both mining infrastructure and processing capacity. Prolonged smelter outages, if not managed carefully, risk undermining investor confidence and delaying the expansion plans the government has staked its economic future on.
The administration of President Hakainde Hichilema has made copper central to its economic development strategy, positioning Zambia as a key supplier to the global clean energy transition, where demand for copper in electric vehicles, solar panels, and power transmission networks is expected to surge over the coming decades.
While the duty waiver extension provides immediate relief, analysts say it highlights a deeper vulnerability in Zambia’s mining sector — its heavy dependence on a small number of large smelting facilities.
When even one major smelter goes offline for an extended period, the effects ripple quickly across the entire copper supply chain, forcing policy interventions like the one announced this week.
The extension to September 30 gives mining companies roughly several more months to clear their concentrate stockpiles. Whether that will be enough time for all affected smelters to return to full operational capacity remains to be seen.
For now, the government’s message is clear: keep the copper moving, even if it means temporarily abandoning Zambia’s preference for exporting only fully refined metal.
