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Lobito Corridor
Lobito, Angola12.35°S 13.55°E
computed criticality48/100
reading
Copper and cobalt from the DRC and Zambia to the Atlantic
2024Corridor traffic≈ 730 tonnes/day (~ 265,000/year)
0tonnes
Accumulated at the measured rate since 1 January 2024 · 2025, Lobito Atlantic Railway (about 265,000 tonnes over the year, more than double 2024)
What passes hereCopper and cobalt from the DRC to the Atlantic. Still a small share of flows: the 4.6 Mt/year target is only about 6% met.
The chokepointSingle track of about 1,300 km, 1,067 mm Cape gauge. Rehabilitation on the DRC side is unfinished, some ore is still trucked.
If it closesCurrent routes run east, Dar es Salaam in Tanzania and Durban in South Africa, via long truck hauls.
Illustrative counter: it extrapolates the measured average rate, it is not a live feed.Source : Lobito Atlantic Railway, 2025 ↗
Fault line
The railway the United States and the EU are financing to move copper and cobalt out of the Copperbelt without going through China or the Indian Ocean. A still-fragile, under-capacity corridor.
Depends on 2
Copperbelt, DRC and ZambiaGrids & Energy · Link↗Copper, Kamoa-Kakula, Katanga (DR Congo)Grids & Energy · Critical anchor↗Sources
U.S. Department of State 2024