Copper exports from DRC to the US begin via Lobito Atlantic Railway

The first US shipment of copper from mines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to be transported by the Lobito Atlantic Railway (LAR) has been loaded.

A cargo of copper cathodes is headed to Baltimore after arriving by train at the port of Lobito in Angola on Aug. 19, global commodities trader Trafigura Group, which is part of a consortium with a concession for the line, said in a statement.

The shipment follows several previous shipments of copper to ports in Europe and the Far East since the Lobito Atlantic Railway took over the concession in January of this year.

LAR, a joint venture backed by Trafigura, Portuguese construction group Mota-Engil, and railway operator Vecturis, was granted a 30-year concession in 2022 to operate the 1,300-kilometer rail network.

The six-day rail journey demonstrated “the time-efficient western route to market that is now available for minerals and metals produced in the Congolese Copperbelt,” Trafigura said.

The Lobito corridor is seen as a key export route from mines in Congo and Zambia for minerals critical to the energy transition, including copper and cobalt.

The US and EU, under the Group of Seven’s Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment, are supporting the project as part of efforts to counter China’s dominance in the Central African Copperbelt.