Maravi

Investment analyst predicts increase in copper price

COMMENT - Considering that the market for copper is now demand and shortage driven, it is time to increase mineral royalties from 3% to 20% and start benefiting from copper. Anyone who says otherwise is on the mines payroll.

Investment analyst predicts increase in copper price
By Fridah Zinyama
Thu 31 Dec. 2009, 04:00 CAT

AN investment analyst has said the likely shortage of metals such as copper on the international market is going to trigger an influx of investment into mineral-rich countries like Zambia in 2010.

In an interview, Roman Kambone said with the developed countries’ economies recovering from the recession, demand for metals would increase hence the shortage that is likely to go on until 2013.

“The shortage is going to trigger an increase in demand for more metals, hence the influx of investment into countries like Zambia,” he said.
Kambone said copper prices were likely to continue increasing hence the need for the government to ensure that revenue was collected from the mining sector that would benefit the general populace.

“Copper prices on the London Metal Exchange (LME) are currently at US $7,320 per metric tonne while on Shanghai, copper for delivery for March is around US $8,100 per metric tonne,” he said.

Kambone said due to the good prices, investors would take advantage of the situation by investing in countries like Zambia hence the need for the government to critically analyse the quality of investors coming into the country.

And Kambone said Zambia’s economy would not fully develop without the mining sector playing its critical role in contributing to the country’s revenue.

Kambone further added that the mining sector would remain the country’s economic driver hence the need to ensure that the country puts in place proper measures of revenue collection which would benefit other sectors of the economy.

“It will be suicidal for our economy if we remove revenue from the mining sector from the equation for whichever period of time and this will affect the growth of other sectors,” he said.

Kambone said creating linkages in the different sectors of the economy would not be possible until revenue from the country’s economic engine was realised.

Labels: COPPER, ROMAN KAMBONE

posted by MrK @ 7:07 AM