Zambia's Copper Refining Industry Challenges the West's $1.4 Billion Supply Chain Strategy

Highlights

• Zambia already exports most copper as refined cathodes, undermining the assumption that African copper must travel to China for processing.
• Electricity shortages, drought, and smelter maintenance pose greater threats to Zambia's copper processing than logistics gaps.
• Ownership of financing terms and offtake contracts—not rail corridors—ultimately determines who controls the copper supply chain.
• Vedanta restarted its 311,000-tonne Nchanga smelter in September, signaling existing industrial capacity that Western investors should not overlook.