Zambia revokes suspension of export duty on unprocessed metal

LUSAKA (Reuters) - Africa's top copper producer Zambia has revoked a new law suspending a 10-percent duty on exports of unprocessed metals after President Michael Sata said it would not benefit the country, a senior treasury official said on Monday. Zambia has instead introduced a 10-percent export duty on semi-processed base metals, including copper, Secretary to the Treasury Fredson Yamba told Reuters. Unprocessed metals usually refer to concentrates, a product that comes just after the ore stage, while semi-processed metals include blister copper which is almost finished copper. "The president directed that we cancel the statutory instrument suspending the export duty and we are proceeding accordingly," Yamba said. Zambia this month suspended the export duty on unprocessed metals after mining firms said they had accumulated too much stock because of limited local smelter capacity. Yamba said a 15-percent import duty would be imposed on semi-processed copper products such as blister, which the country buys from neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo. The import and export duties on semi-processed metals are intended to encourage local value addition and to create employment, Yamba said. The Chamber of Mines of Zambia said on Monday the new export duty would substantially raise the costs of mining companies. "These measures threaten the viability of Zambia's mining sector and make it extremely vulnerable to collapse in the current volatile commodity cycle," a chamber spokesman said.