Posted on 28 Feb 2025
The Democratic Republic of the Congo, the world’s largest cobalt supplier, has temporarily halted exports of the critical mineral in an attempt to help stabilise the market.
A communique issued by the Strategic Mineral Substances Market Regulation and Control Authority (Arecoms), under the country’s mines ministry, says all exports are suspended for four months. Mine operators were informed that the measure is effective from 22 February, Kallanish learns.
Congolese authorities will revise the effect of the measure within three months to establish whether the suspension will be terminated or modified. The ban covers all origins of cobalt – industrial, semi-industrial, artisanal or small-scale exploitation.
“This measure aims to stabilise the cobalt market in the face of excessive supply, to strengthen traceability and control of the supply chain, and to promote local processing of the ore,” the ministry adds. “It is part of a series of actions aimed at improving the regulation and optimisation of revenues from cobalt.”
Oversupply driven by the ramp-up of production by China’s CMOC, the No. 1 cobalt producer, in the DRC, coupled with lower demand from the battery sector, has crashed cobalt prices to historically low levels. On Monday, the LME reported a cash offer price of $21,390/t and a bid price of $20,890/tonne. The exchange saw a drastic price drop in late January from around $24,000/t to roughly $21,000/t. In January 2023, cobalt was selling at around $50,000/t.
China has been building inventories despite weak prices. The country holds around 80% of the global cobalt refining capacity. Indonesia has also been increasing its production of the mineral, which is a byproduct of copper and nickel mining. The Southeast Asian country now accounts for 11% of the global cobalt supply, behind the DRC with a 76% share, according to the Cobalt Institute.
The temporary ban on DRC exports could provide Indonesia with an incentive to increase its market share at the expense of continued low prices.
DRC cobalt miners CMOC, Glencore and Eurasian Resources Group are yet to publicly comment on the decision.
Source:Kallanish
