Zambia shuts Tanzania border to fight COVID-19
2020-05-13 11:59:45 [Print]
Zambia temporarily shut its border with Tanzania to enhance measures against the spread of COVID-19, delaying its main copper exports via Dar es Salaam, a minister said on Tuesday.
President Edgar Lungu last Sunday directed the closure after the border town of Nakonde recorded 76 cases of COVID-19, the highest number registered by Africa's No.2 copper producer in a single day.
South Africa's strict COVID-19 lockdown has caused miners to divert copper from the country's ports to others in Africa, with Dar es Salaam the clear winner.
"We have a good number of trucks that need to be cleared to go out of Zambia," Muchinga province Minister Malozo Sichone said. Sichone said priority would be given to trucks entering Zambia with essential goods such as fuel, medical supplies and food. He could not say for how long the border would remain closed.
President Edgar Lungu last Sunday directed the closure after the border town of Nakonde recorded 76 cases of COVID-19, the highest number registered by Africa's No.2 copper producer in a single day.
South Africa's strict COVID-19 lockdown has caused miners to divert copper from the country's ports to others in Africa, with Dar es Salaam the clear winner.
"We have a good number of trucks that need to be cleared to go out of Zambia," Muchinga province Minister Malozo Sichone said. Sichone said priority would be given to trucks entering Zambia with essential goods such as fuel, medical supplies and food. He could not say for how long the border would remain closed.
Copper Rod TC Ф8mm EXW China
Unit:RMB/mt
China crude copper producers' operating rate statistics by province by month
Unit: %
