Lobito-Railway-carries-first-US-bound-Congolese-copper-cargo

Lobito Railway carries first US-bound copper cargo

LOBITO, August 23, 2024 – The first shipment of copper transported by the Lobito Atlantic Railway and destined for the USA departed the Port of Lobito, Angola, on board the MSC SAMU container vessel earlier this week, commodities trader Trafigura announced on Thursday.

The cargo of copper cathodes arrived in Lobito on August 19, 2024, six days after being dispatched from Kolwezi, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on a train operated by the Lobito Atlantic Railway. The cargo is bound for Baltimore, in the US.

For more on the Lobito Atlantic Railway, see our project highlight.

“This shipment highlights the growing supply of services by international shipping companies to the Port of Lobito, which will support the growing development of our operations and regular shipments of raw materials to Europe and America,” said Francisco Franca, chairman of the board of directors of the Lobito Atlantic Railway.

The Lobito Atlantic Railway is a consortium comprising commodities trading company Trafigura, Mota-Engil Engenharia e Construção and independent rail operator Vecturis. Since January 2024, it has been operating the railway line that connects the Port of Lobito to Luau in Angola and Kolwezi, the heart of the Copperbelt.

Several shipments of copper have departed from Lobito to ports in Europe and the Far East since the Lobito Atlantic Railway took over the concession.

The project will expand the mineral export capacity of DR Congo and Zambia while enhancing Angola’s position as a regional and global logistics hub for trade in general, and the trade of energy transition minerals in particular.

Read our latest insights on: