UAE’s IHC unit plans copper trading hub in Abu Dhabi

JOHANNESBURG, Oct 24 (Reuters) – The UAE’s International Resources Holding (IRH) said it plans to set up a copper trading hub in Abu Dhabi as the firm widens its push into critical minerals.

IRH, an arm of the United Arab Emirates’ International Holding Company, has a trading target of more than half a million metric tons of copper annually from next year, it said in a Linkedin post. It has said it is seeking to expand in copper mining after buying a 51% stake in Mopani Copper Mines in Zambia in a $1.1 billion deal.

“We are set to launch a copper trading hub in Abu Dhabi, targeting over 500,000 tons of green copper annually by 2025,” IRH said. “This initiative will further cement the region’s strategic importance in the global energy transition.”

Oil-rich UAE and Saudi Arabia have been on an aggressive deals spree as part of a push to secure critical metal supplies from Africa and Latin America, a move that could also help them participate in the transition to green energy.

Sigma Lithium on Wednesday said it struck an agreement to ship 22,000 tons of lithium concentrates to IRH, its first deal with the Abu Dhabi firm.

(Reporting by Felix Njini in Johannesburg; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)

(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2024. Click For Restrictions – https://agency.reuters.com/en/copyright.html