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Serbian, Kazakh copper firms mull partnership |
Belgrade, Oct. 16, 2002 - Serbia's copper mining and smelting complex in Bor said today it was mulling a deal with a major Kazakh firm on manufacturing copper products in Serbia.
Rudarsko-topionicarski Basen Bor RTB in eastern Serbia, severely hit by a decade of international isolation in the 1990s, is struggling to find partners to activate idle capacity.
"We hope the deal with copper giant Kazakhmys Corporation will be signed in 2003," said Milovan Nikolic, in charge of strategic development at the Serbian firm.
"It would give us a chance to engage our production capacities as the plan is to get cathode copper from the Kazakh firm and produce copper rolled and drawn goods in Serbia's plants," he told Reuters.
A copper pipe plant in Majdanpek, a non-ferrous metals plant in Prokuplje and a copper rolling mill in Sevojno are the three units involved. A total of 50,000
tones of cathode copper a year is needed.
The Serbian and Kazakh sides are now discussing details.
Kazakhmys Corporation, specializing in refined copper, increased its January-June output by 5.4 percent year-on-year to 216,700
tones.
South Korea's Samsung owns or controls via its subsidiaries more than 30 percent of the shares in Kazakhmys.
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