zambian copper output down

Zambia's April Copper Output Down 21 On Month - Central Bank

DJ Zambia's April Copper Output Down 21% On Month - Central Bank

DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

Zambia's April copper output was down 21% compared with March due to
operational disruptions at a number of mines, the country's central bank said
in a statement Tuesday.

According to fortnightly statistics, Zambia produced 39,916 metric tons of
copper in April, compared with 50,326 tons in March. Zambia's April copper
output was also 0.5% down over the 39,697 tons produced in the same month last
year.

However, April cobalt output increased to 398 metric tons from 354 tons in
March.

In April, mining operations in Zambia were disrupted by power outages,
following the disruption of power imports from Congo after faults on
interconnector lines.

Zambia's April copper exports fell to 31,658 tons from 49,273 tons in March,
with the difference in production and exports attributed to stockpiling at some
mines.

According to the central bank data, April copper exports brought the
cumulative copper output since January to 170,768 tons compared with 154,609
tons in the same period last year.

Zambia is targeting to increase copper output to 1 million tons by 2010, but
analysts said the power crisis could hit growth in the sector.



-By Nicholas Bariyo, contributing to Dow Jones Newswires; 256-75262 4615;
[email protected]