Mercuria Energy Group has partnered with Industrial Development Corp. of Zambia (IDC) to launch a metal trading business focused on copper, the country's main export commodity. The Geneva-based commodity trader will provide funding, likely in the hundreds of millions of dollars, to support the business

The commodity trader Mercuria announced, in a press release, a partnership agreement with the Zambian public holding Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) to create a metal trading company, as part of a strategy to enable the southern African country to maximize the income from its mineral wealth.

“The joint venture represents a bold step in Zambia's resource governance strategy, which seeks to derive greater value from its mineral wealth,” said the Swiss-based group.

Mercuria also specified that it will draw on its financial, commercial and technical expertise to help Zambia “promote an independent institutional marketing and trading capacity for its copper resources, to develop a local metal trading sector, to develop a local metal trading sector, to train its human capital through” #39; a transfer of knowledge and skills and to improve the transparency and efficiency of mineral trading”. The joint venture between Mercuria and Industrial Resources Limited, a 100% subsidiary of IDC, will focus on

“This partnership envisions the establishment of a vehicle to market Zambian copper through mutual leverage between Industrial Resources Limited and Mercuria, in order to position Zambia as a key player in international markets. It will also promote local capacity building by training Zambians in commodity trading, risk management, and financial transactions,” said Leya Mtonga (photo, left), IDC legal officer, representing the managing director, Cornwell Muleya

“Our joint venture with IDC marks an important step for Zambia, which is positioning itself more strategically in the global mineral market. This initiative highlights our commitment to fostering long-term and mutually beneficial partnerships,” said Kostas Bintas (photo, right), Mercuria's global head of metals