en.Wedoany.com Reported - Lobito Atlantic Railway announced on June 13 that the freight trunk line from the Port of Lobito to Huambo, damaged by severe floods in April this year, has been repaired and reopened. On the same day, it handled the first post-disaster copper ore freight train from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), marking the reopening of this key transport corridor connecting DRC's copper and cobalt mines to the Atlantic outlet.

The Lobito Corridor railway, approximately 1,300 kilometers long, was constructed by the American company Bechtel and opened to traffic in 2023. It serves as the core channel for exporting copper and cobalt ores from the Katanga Province in southern DRC via Angola's Port of Lobito, handling about 60% of the region's mineral export transport tasks. In April this year, severe floods hit south-central Angola, causing significant damage to the tracks and roadbed on the Lobito-Huambo section, forcing a nearly two-month suspension of freight transport and directly impacting the regional mineral supply chain.

During the line's suspension, Lobito Atlantic Railway activated an emergency plan, using a combination of trains and trucks at both ends of the damaged tracks to maintain freight operations. After the line was reopened on June 13, the first freight train, carrying copper concentrate from the DRC, arrived at the Port of Lobito via the repaired section, and will subsequently be shipped to global markets by sea.

The Lobito Corridor railway is a vital component of southern Africa's mineral export infrastructure and a key project in Western countries' strategic layout for the cross-border transport network of critical minerals. This repair completion provides direct factual support for the export of copper and cobalt ores from the DRC and the port logistics system of Angola.

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