Zambia extends copper concentrate export waiver as smelter maintenance drags on

Zambia has extended the suspension of its 10% export duty on copper concentrate through 30 September 2026, covering nearly 272,000 tonnes of material, as prolonged maintenance and outages at the country's copper smelters continue to limit how much concentrate can be processed domestically. The waiver, first introduced in August 2025, allows producers to export concentrate that would otherwise sit in stockpiles while smelters are down.

Mopani Copper Mines, jointly owned by Abu Dhabi's International Resources Holding and Zambia's state mining investment company ZCCM-IH, has been allocated the largest quota at 100,000 tonnes, reflecting an extended shutdown at its Mufulira smelter running through mid-September. Other allocations include 56,986 tonnes for Barrick's Lumwana Mining Company, roughly 43,000 tonnes each for First Quantum Minerals and Nkana Mining and Minerals Processing, 15,000 tonnes for the Lubambe Copper Mine and 12,541 tonnes for Vedanta-controlled Konkola Copper Mines.

A processing bottleneck, not a mining one

The waiver highlights a structural mismatch in Zambia's copper industry: mine output has been rising toward the government's goal of three million tonnes of annual copper production by 2031, but domestic smelting capacity has not kept pace, and the smelters that do exist require periodic, sometimes extended, maintenance that leaves concentrate with nowhere to go except export markets. Notably, Mopani — despite holding the largest allocation — has in the past opted not to fully use its export waiver quota, illustrating how individual producers weigh the value of exporting unprocessed concentrate against holding it for eventual domestic processing.

Why it matters for beneficiation goals

Zambia has long wanted to capture more value by processing copper domestically rather than exporting raw concentrate, but the recurring need for export waivers during smelter maintenance shows the practical limits of that ambition when processing capacity is tight. Zambia exported 890,346 tonnes of copper in 2025, and as mine output climbs further, the country's smelters — including Mopani's Mufulira plant, First Quantum's Kansanshi smelter and others — will need sustained reliability, not just periodic waivers, if Zambia is to process a growing share of its own copper rather than repeatedly falling back on concentrate exports. Industry executives say the waiver, while necessary in the short term, should not become a permanent feature of policy, since a country that habitually exports concentrate captures far less value than one that reliably smelts and refines its own ore.

Sources

• FMDRCZ: Zambia extends copper concentrate export duty waiver amid smelter shutdowns, 03 Jun 2026

Photo: Mine water infrastructure at Mufulira, Zambia, home to Mopani Copper Mines' smelter. Wachi Mukuka, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.