Lobito Corridor attracts new companies
Lobito Atlantic Railway (LAR), the consortium that, in July, won the tender for the concession of railway and logistics services for the Lobito Corridor, stated that it was satisfied with the expressions of interest from the main mining companies located along the route which, Leaving from the Angolan coast, it serves the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Zambia.
“We are very pleased with the various expressions of interest from the main companies in Minas Gerais, which recognize the benefits of this new logistics route made available to them”, reads a note sent yesterday to the Editorial Staff of Jornal de Angola.
The document follows news published on Monday by the British agency Reuters reporting an alleged reluctance on the part of mining companies in the region to establish long-term commitments with LAR, for the use of the Benguela Railway lines. (CFB).
On the contrary, the consortium’s Administration, revealed that it had obtained “several positive responses” from customers in the region covered by the transport logistics platform constituted by the Lobito Corridor, announcing that “initial operations will begin in the fourth quarter of this year”.
Due to what it says is “strong demand, we are implementing a process that is as comprehensive as it is transparent, prioritizing companies prepared to sign contracts with us that involve the transport of cargo for longer periods”.
The company considers the Lobito Corridor as “the most efficient, economical and safe route to make exports profitable in the region it passes through and which will serve, namely, Angola, DRC and Zambia.
This railway corridor, reminds the LAR Administration, will transport, above all, concentrates of ores existing in the region (copper, cobalt, gold), refined metals, chemical products and general cargo, with these products expected to represent a substantial part of the goods transported along the Lobito Corridor.
Last month, Canadian Ivanhoe Mines signed a memorandum of understanding to begin exports of concentrate from the Kamoa-Kakula Copper Complex through the Lobito Corridor, for up to 10 thousand tons of copper concentrate, this being the first commercial agreement signed with the private consortium.
The consortium intends to invest US$555 million in renewing the railway line, US$455 million of which in Angola and US$100 million in the DRC.
Around $250 million of that amount could come from the US International Development Finance Corporation, which declared in May that it was engaged in due diligence for possible financing.
The DRC and Zambia are the largest copper producers in Africa, accounting for 2.3 million and 797 thousand tons of the metal, respectively, in 2022, according to data from the consultancy International Copper Study Group cited by Reuters.
