Kazakhstan’s Jan-Feb copper output up; zinc, steel down
Kazakhstan’s refined copper output rose 5.4 percent year-on-year in the first two months of 2019, while refined zinc production fell 4.0 percent and crude steel output dropped 37.2 percent, Statistics Committee data showed on Monday.
London-listed copper miner KAZ Minerals and Glencore’s Kazzinc account for a large part of Kazakhstan’s metals production.
ArcelorMittal owns the country’s only major steel mill in Temirtau. The plant partly suspended operations late last year after a fire which damaged gas pipelines.
The Statistics Committee provided the following data on Kazakhstan’s non-ferrous, steel and precious metals output in its latest monthly bulletin:
Jan Feb Jan-Feb REFINED COPPER (tonnes) 37,294 36,787 74,081 mth/mth pct change 1.4 -1.2 --- yr/yr pct change 8.0 2.8 5.4 REFINED ZINC (T) 24,535 27,492 52,027 mth/mth pct change -10.8 -2.7 --- yr/yr pct change -4.5 -3.5 -4.0 ZINC CONCENTRATE (T) 16,400 13,400 29,800 mth/mth pct change 22.4 -38.2 --- yr/yr pct change -32.0 -31.6 -31.8 ALUMINA AND UNWROUGHT 122,542 131,134 253,676 ALUMINIUM (T) mth/mth pct change -6.6 -2.4 --- yr/yr pct change -10.2 -13.2 -11.8 BAUXITE (T) 335,800 323,500 659,300 mth/mth pct change 3.8 -57.1 --- yr/yr pct change -13.2 -24.6 -19.2 FERRO-ALLOYS (T) 167,280 180,573 347,853 mth/mth pct change -7.4 -2.2 --- yr/yr pct change 8.3 5.4 6.8 CRUDE STEEL (T) 238,329 223,808 462,137 mth/mth pct change 6.5 48.8 --- yr/yr pct change -32.8 -41.3 -37.2 LEAD CONCENTRATE (T) 7.8 6.0 13.8 mth/mth pct change 30.0 -27.7 --- yr/yr pct change -7.1 -9.1 -8.0 REFINED LEAD (T) 10,555 10,470 21,025 mth/mth pct change 0.8 -1.6 --- yr/yr pct change -14.3 -20.7 -17.6 REFINED GOLD (kg) 4,544 3,331 7,875 mth/mth pct change 36.4 -36.8 --- yr/yr pct change 2.9 8.1 5.1 REFINED SILVER (kg) 70,170 56,116 126,286 mth/mth pct change 25.0 -36.3 --- yr/yr pct change -23.0 -4.8 -15.9
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Mariya Gordeyeva Writing by Olzhas Auyezov; editing by Louise Heavens)