Trafigura Prepays $200 Million to Snap Up Ivanhoe’s Congo Copper

Trafigura Group agreed to pay $200 million for copper anodes from an Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. smelter in the Democratic Republic of Congo that’s due to start up in September.

Trafigura signed the prepayment agreement last month, Ivanhoe said Tuesday in a statement. The deal shows global trading houses — from Mercuria Energy Group to Vitol Group — are continuing to stump up cash to secure future volumes of the metal as competition for supply heats up.