Congo copper exports to US begin via Angola railway to Atlantic

The first shipment to the United States of copper from mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo has been offloaded from the Lobito Atlantic Railway (LAR).

A cargo of copper cathodes is headed to Baltimore after arriving by train at the port of Lobito in Angola on Aug. 19, 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 LAR took over the concession in January of this year.

The railway, a joint venture backed by global commodities trader Trafigura, Portuguese construction group Mota-Engil, and railway operator Vecturis, was granted a 30-year concession in 2022 to operate the 1,300-km rail network. The U.S. has pledged US$250 million to support the route. 

Six-day trip

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 U.S. 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. 

The rail line route dates from colonial days under Portuguese rule, but it was decimated during Angola’s 27-year civil war following independence in 1975.