Zambia Sees Rebound in Copper

CAPE TOWN, June 15 -- Zambia is beginning to see a rebound in its crucial copper mining industry, which was hammered last year by plunging commodities prices, mining minister Maxwell Mwale told AFP on Thursday.

    Mwale said the industry had stabilised this year due to growing demand "driven by the Chinese and the Indians," which has helped bring prices to around 4,500 per tonne.

    Copper output jumped 13.6 percent in the first four months of the year, from 192,064 to 218,101 tonnes, according to the Bank of Zambia.

    Copper prices went into freefall last year, dropping from a high of around 8,000 dollars per tonne to about 2,800 dollars in just six months.

    The plunge resulted in more than 8,200 job losses in one of the world's poorest countries, which depends on copper for 80 percent of its export earnings.

    (Source: AFP)