Despite the more favorable prices in 1979Zambia's mineral production slumped
ex1068 
MINERALS YEARBOOK, 1978-79 
 
Kazungula was damaged in April 1979. Repeated attempts to export copper and
import fertilizer by way of Mozambique's ports of Nacala and Beira met with
scant success. These routes reportedly handled 7,200 tons each during the
dry month of July, but the road hauls from Lusaka to Salima railhead in Malawi
for Nacala port, and to Moatize coal mine and railhead in Mozambique for
Beira port, could not maintam this rate for an extended period. During most
of the year 10,000 tons per month was handled by TanZam Road Services 
trucks to Dar es Salaam, 20,000 tons per month was hauled by Tazara, and
a similar quantity went by the southern rail route to South African ports.
Traffic over the southern route increased by 50% in October 1979 when the
multispan bridge over the Chambishi River in northeastern Zambia was destroyed.
TanZam trucks travelling an alternate route continued hauling copper to Dar
as Salaam where a backlog of 32,000 tons of copper helped maintain copper
export shipments through the yearend. 
 
PRODUCTION AND TRADE 
 
 Production of copper in Zambia increased slightly in 1978 but decreased
during 1979. The London Metal Exchange (LME) price per ton of copper rose
from $1,467 in December 1978 to $2,010 in March 1979 and thereafter fluctuated
between $1,620 and $2,050 until the yearend. Prices of other mineral commodities
also rose during the 2 year period, but none so much as cobalt, which was
in short supply and subject to a 70% quota on sales even before the May 13,
1978, invasion of Zaire's Kolwezi metallurgical center. Panic buying and
a short-lived "gray market" pushed cobalt spot prices to more than
twice
the producer price. The following tabulation compares, in U.S. dollam per
pound, the producer price changes agreed on between Zambian and Zairian officials
and the prevailing spot prices for this period. 
 
 Producer Spot price Date 
price 
Dec.21,1977 $6.40  NA 
Feb.24,1978 6.85  NA 
May24,1978 8.50  NA 
July 20, 1978 12.50 NA 
Sept.14,1978 18.00 $35.00 
Oct.27,1978 20.00 39.00 
Nov.10, 1978 20.00 49.00 
Feb. 1, 1979 25.00 39.00 
June 8, 1979 25.00 42.00 
Ju1y27,1979 25.00 30.00 
Oct. 5, 1979 25.00 24.00 
Nov. 9, 1919 25.00 21.00 
Dec.28,1979 25.00 22.00 
 
NA Notavailable. 
cept for cobalt. The continuing and ubiquitous shortages of spare parts,
supplies, and skilled staff to effect repairs promptly and carry out preventive
maintenance on schedule produced epidemics of partial and temporary shutdowns.
As a result, fewer tons of lower grade ore were mined from which reduced
amounts of substandard concentrates were milled, and less metal was smelted
thoughout the mining industry. Production of zinc by the Broken Hill Division
of NCCM was up slightly in 1978, while lead production declined. Prices of
both metals reached near record levels in the first half of 1979. Zambia's
reported mineral production for 1978 and estimated production for 1979 appear
in table 1. 
 The dollar value of Zambia's 1974-78 trade is shown in the following tabulation:

 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 
Total 
 exports(A).. — 1,406.6 809.8 1,054.0 898.1 818.4 
Copper 
 exports(B).. — 1,303.1 733.5 965.4 818.7 760.3 
Total 
 imports(C) — 985.0 1,137.7 800.5 828.5 745.1 
A-C balance — — +421.6 —327.5 +253.5 +69.6
+73.2 
 Source: International Financial Statistics. v. 33, No. 3, March 1980, p.
426. 
 
 
 The balances do not indicate an accumulation of foreign exchange because
of repayments, servicing of loans, and other disbursments. 
 Zambia's mineral exports are shown in table 2, copper exports and destinations
in table 3, and imports of mineral-related cornmodities in table 4.