The Democratic Republic of Congo has begun exporting copper to the United States for the first time under a new partnership with Mercuria Energy Group, in a move aligned with Washington’s push to reduce China’s grip on critical metal supplies.

State-owned miner Gécamines said it will ship 100,000 tonnes of copper to the US from its 20% stake in production at CMOC Group’s Tenke Fungurume mine, one of the largest copper projects in central Africa, Bloomberg reported.

The company’s trading arm, Gécamines Trading, is purchasing the metal from Tenke’s 2026 output and making it available to American buyers as part of a strategic agreement signed with the US government last month.

The Democratic Republic of Congo, the world’s second-largest copper producer and holder of some of the richest cobalt reserves used in electric-vehicle batteries, has offered the United States access to key mining and infrastructure projects in return for support in addressing a rebellion it says is backed by neighbouring Rwanda.

Mercuria and state miner Gécamines first unveiled their partnership in October. Gécamines said its trading arm, Gécamines Trading, which it fully owns, will receive financial, logistical and technical backing from Mercuria.

Over the long term, the Congolese company is targeting annual sales rights of up to 500,000 tonnes of copper and 40,000 tonnes of cobalt from its assets.

The US International Development Finance Corporation has signed a letter of intent to explore taking an equity stake in the venture, which would grant American end-users a right of first refusal on metals sold through the platform.

China remains Congo’s dominant trading partner. In 2024, bilateral trade between the two countries totalled nearly $28 billion, compared with about $1.6 billion in trade between Congo and the United States.

Source: Africabusinessinsider