Kazakhstan’s copper ore mining increases by 8%
Over the past year, mining of copper ore rose by 8.2% year on year to 103.2 million tons. The country produced: 12.9 million tons (+15.7% YOY) of copper concentrates, 4.8 million tons (-4.2%) of copper-zinc ores, and 580.6 thousand tons (+15.5%) of copper in copper concentrate.
The main copper ore miners are East Kazakhstan (37% of the total production in the country), Pavlodar (30%) and Karaganda (28%) regions.
"For 12 months of 2018, production of refined copper and copper alloys reached 442.6 thousand tons or 3% more than a year before. The top producing regions are Karaganda region (76% of the country's total output) and East Kazakhstan region (21%). Kazakhmys operates in Karaganda region - about forty industrial facilities of the company operate in Karaganda, Satpayev, Zhezkazkan, and Balkhash," the publication reads.
At the end of the first 11 months of 2018, exports of refined copper and copper alloys decreased by 4.2% in volume and increased by 5.1% in monetary terms.
"Among the CIS countries, Ukraine still remains the main importer of Kazakhstan's copper. The other (importing) countries of the world include China, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom. It is noteworthy that the exports of copper-mine tailings and copper scrap increased at once by nearly 57% in volume, while in monetary terms it decreased by almost 19%. The key importer of copper-mine tailings and copper scrap is Russia."
Kazakhstan's supplies of copper wire to international markets decreased by 44.3% in volume and 36.8% in monetary terms. All supplies are imported by Russia.