The first consignment of 700 tons of copper cement from the re-opened Timna copper mine in the southern Negev was shipped from Eilat to Bilbao, Spain last week. The mine, near the site of the historic King Solomon’s mine north of Eilat, was closed five years ago when copper production become uneconomic. It was re-opened last September following the world-wide increase in copper prices. The first shipment was valued at about $700,000.
Despite a recent increase in Suez Canal fees, shipment from Timna via nearby Eilat is still about $15 a ton cheaper than shipping the goods by road to Ashdod and then by the shorter sea route direct through the Mediterranean without Suez Canal passage.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.