Mercuria Energy Funds $100M Prepayments for ERG Copper Supply from the DRC
Mercuria Provides $100 Million to Support ERG’s Copper Projects in DRC
Mercuria Energy Trading SA agreed to provide up to $100 million in prepayments to Eurasian Resources Group (ERG) as part of a three-year supply agreement for copper from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The financing aimed to support Luxembourg-registered ERG in developing its copper projects in the central African nation, the company said in an emailed statement on Thursday.
Mercuria has been expanding aggressively into metals, with a particular focus on copper-rich nations in Central Africa. Its new metals division reportedly generated approximately $300 million in trading profits so far this year, Bloomberg News reported earlier in October.
“The facility will strengthen ERG’s asset development in the Democratic Republic of the Congo — a region of growing strategic relevance to Mercuria,” said Kostas Bintas, Mercuria’s global head of metals and minerals, in the statement.
Earlier this month, another Mercuria unit agreed to collaborate with Gécamines, Congo’s state-owned miner, to trade its share of output from copper and cobalt joint ventures. The DRC is the world’s second-largest copper producer and the largest producer of cobalt.
Late last year, Mercuria also announced a metals trading partnership with Zambia, Africa’s largest copper producer after the DRC.
“This marks an important step in deepening our collaboration with global partners as we work to realize the full potential of our core operations in the DRC,” said Shukhrat Ibragimov, ERG’s chairman and CEO.
ERG is 40% owned by the government of Kazakhstan.
