Pak annual export of copper to China reaches $70 million
From Javed Akhtar (APP)

BEIJING—Pakistan's annual export of copper (Mineral product) to China is expected to reach around dollar 70 million by the end of December.
The export of copper was amounted to $48 million during January 2005 to August, 2005, according to the Chinese Custom Authority.
We hope the export will reach worth $70 million by December, 2005, end of the Chinese calendar year,” said a senior Pakistani official in Beijing.
As compared to the previous year, the export of copper from the Saindek mineral project was showing an upward trend, he added. China will also get a big quantity of zinc and lead from Pakistan, said Wang Jianjun, a senior executive of Chinese Zhuzhou Smelting Company.
The company would take delivery of 50,000 tons of zinc-in-concentrate and 20,000 tons of lead a year from the Duddar mine in Pakistan, that is due to start production in 2007.
Zhuzhou owns a stake of less than 40 per cent of the mine, he said, but would take its entire output. The majority owner of the mine is the State-owned China Metallurgical Construction Corp.
In an interview with APP, another official said China will be spending $25 million to further expand the existing production capacity of Saindak project.
This is part of growing cooperation between the two countries in the mineral sector. The expansion project will be completed within a period of one year. It will further enhance its production capacity to 30 percent.
Meanwhile, an official of MRDL Company of China said that the company is increasing its cooperation with Pakistan in the mineral sector. MRDL is a subsidiary of Metallurgical Construction Company of China (MCC) operating in the Saindak Copper-Gold project, with an initial investment of $26 million since August 2003.
He said, the Sino-Pak co-operation in the mineral sector has opened up new business prospects and it is hoped that the Saindak will contribute tremendously in promoting their economic ties.
The MCC and Pakistan have already signed an agreement to develop Duddar Lead Zinc project in Lasbela (Balochistan) with an investment of $70 million. The company will produce 132,000 tons of Lead and Zinc metals concentrate for exports annually.
He hoped that the Chinese companies will prefer to import copper’s from Pakistan, which have its competitive advantage both quality and price-wise.
China’s demand for copper has increased greatly due to the rapid economic development and big expansion of infrastructure construction, said Tang Jing, an expert with the Tongling Nonferrous Metal Research Institute.
The country’s demand for copper products in the past decade grew by more than 9 percent annually.

Chinese President, Premier, FM mourn devastation

BEIJING—Chinese President Hu Jintao Saturday sent a message of condolences to President Pervez Musharraf over the massive earthquake that caused heavy casualties and damages in Pakistan.
Press release says that Hu, on behalf of the Chinese government and people and in his own name, offered his condolences, through President Musharraf, to the victims' families and the injured and expressed deep grief over those who were killed in the earthquake.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing also extended condolences to their Pakistani counterparts Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri over the deadly earthquake. The sources said the Chinese nation stands by their Pakistani brothers and sisters at this hour of great shock and distress.—PR

 

4 Chinese injured in earthquake
Staff Report

ISLAMABAD—Four Chinese were injured in Besham district when a strong earthquake rocked many parts of Pakistan, according to the Chinese embassy in Islamabad. One of the four injured is still in coma, an embassy official told Xinhua, adding that the four were working for a hydro project in a tunnel when the earthquake occurred. Identity of four victims of Margalla Tower collapse have been ascertained while the rescue efforts for retrieving the stranded residents of the building were in full swing. Those who have been identified include Egyptian diplomat Momin Kamil, Sagheer Ahmad s/o Mohammad Ramzan resident of Tehsil Pasroor District Sialkot, Mohammad Amin s/o Fasihullah district Bhakar and a teenage boy Salman Rahat. Most parts of the country including twin cities, Peshawar, Lahore, Northern Areas and Azad Kashmir were jolted by tremors of 7.5 intensity at the Richter scale at 8:55 am on Saturday. So far 45 injured from the Margalla Tower have been rushed to Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences. Local administration has set up a Help Line in F-10 area and its telephone number is 051-2210901-05 whereas the help line being set up in PIMS has telephone number 051-9200187.