Beijing's ambitions on Africa's natural resources tend to grow significantly. The increasingly close collaboration between the BRICS countries, of which China and South Africa are part, facilitates the projection of Chinese state-owned companies in Africa. [In Depth: The Congo Mine That Could Feed China's Vast ... - caixinglobal.com]
The first shipment of copper ore from the Kamoa-Kakula mine in the southern Democratic Republic of Congo is expected to arrive in China this month after traveling overland to the South African port of Durban.
The mine, operated by a Chinese-Canadian joint venture, is expected to produce 200,000 tons of copper a year in its first phase, rising to a peak of 800,000 tons or more by 2029, with a majority of the output to be smelted, processed and sold in China.
As China’s economy recovers from the domestic Covid-19 epidemic it has regained its immense appetite for copper — a key indicator of a nation’s economic health. In June, the government announced that it will release copper, zinc and aluminum from its national strategic reserves for the first time in more than a decade.
