Lusaka (Platts)--11Feb2013/849 am EST/1349 GMT

Zambian copper production in December 2012 climbed by 38% year-on-year, as a result of an increase in global copper prices, the central Bank of Zambia said Monday.

Prices of copper were between $8,240 and $8,241/mt.

The country produced 89,617 mt in December compared with 64,866 mt a year earlier, the BOZ said.

Production in November was 74,638 mt, according to the BOZ statistics.

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For whole of 2012, copper output fell by 5.4% to 844,986 mt from 892,792 mt in 2011, according to consolidated data from the BOZ.

Commenting on the drop of production for the year, the Bank of Zambia said this was due to the low grade of copper in ore produced by the mines.

The Bank of Zambia said copper exports climbed to 923,13 mt in 2012, up from 832,143 mt in 2012.

This was due to the rebound in copper prices on the international market, the BOZ said.

The Bank of Zambia said cobalt production in December rose by 15% year-on-year to 385 mt from 335 mt.

Cobalt output for 2012, dropped by 39% to 5,636 mt from 9,238 mt in 2011.

Cobalt exports for the whole of 2012 stood at 10,030 mt, up from 8,830 mt in 2011.

This was due to the high price of cobalt on the international market which traded between $25,250 and $26,250/mt, the Bank of Zambia said.

--James Mwambazi, newsdesk@platts.com
--Edited by Jonathan Dart, jonathan_dart@platts.com

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