The Southern African country of Zambia has extended its temporary waiver of the 10% export tax on copper concentrates until September 30, giving mining companies more time to move unprocessed material while critical smelting plants are out for maintenance and repairs.
The move is intended to alleviate the accumulation of copper concentrate stocks as various smelters around the country continue to face operational and technical issues that have limited processing capacity.
Historically, Zambia, one of Africa’s top copper producers, has exported the majority of its copper as processed cathodes rather than raw concentrates.
Zambia exported 890,346 metric tons of copper in 2025, with the ambitious goal of raising yearly production to 3 million metric tons by 2031, as seen on Reuters.
The country revealed that the tax suspension, which was initially implemented in August 2025, covers a total of 271,742 metric tons of copper concentrate permitted for export under the exemption plan.
