LUSAKA – Copper production in Zambia, Africa’s top producer of the metal, dropped to 421,280 tonnes in the first half of 2012 from 463,236 tonnes in the same period last year, the central bank said on Wednesday.
Copper exports between January and June 2012 were 412,530 tonnes, up from 398,929 tonnes last year, it said.
Cobalt production dropped to 3,036 tonnes in the six month period this year from 4,371 tonnes in 2011 and exports fell to 3,534 tonnes from 4,410 tonnes, it said.
Analysts said declining metal prices and a slowdown in the economies of major consumers helped push production lower.
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