As 2025 came to a close, the Finance Minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo announced that the country had recommenced its exports of cobalt. This comes after a 10-month hiatus that was introduced early last year.
While the initial plan had been to ban exports for only 4 months in an effort to control declining prices caused by oversupply and stabilize the market, the suspension was extended. At the time, the Strategic Mineral Substances Market Regulation and Control Authority explained that the decision to prolong the temporary suspension was made, because stock levels in the market remained high.
Cobalt is a critical metal utilized in the production of high-performance lithium-ion batteries for electric cars. It is also used in heat-resistant durable superalloys for aerospace engines and gas turbines. This is in addition to its use in manufacturing industrial cutting tools and high-strength magnets.
Additionally, the metal is used in the manufacture of catalysts for chemical processes and petroleum refining.
In a press conference, Minister Doudou Fwamba revealed that the ban focused on ensuring national sovereignty over raw materials. He explained that while the central African country was the leading producer of the metal globally, they had limited influence over how global prices were determined.
Figures from the U.S. Geological Survey show that in 2024, the Democratic Republic of Congo produced roughly 220,000 tons of the metal. This makes up over 75% of total cobalt produced worldwide.
Additionally, he noted that the DRC had experienced a drop in government revenue as a result of the continued fall in cobalt prices. According to Fwamba, this trend had been largely driven by the expansion of Chinese-controlled mining operations in the country, particularly by CMOC. CMOC Group Limited is a Chinese firm engaged in the mining and processing of basic metals and rare metals, as well as mineral trading.
In the DRC, the company runs the massive Kisanfu and Tenke Fungurume mines, the two largest cobalt mines globally.
Fwamba noted that the strategy imposed was successful, with cobalt prices rising to about $55,000 per ton from $22,000. In the DRC, cobalt is primarily extracted from mines situated in Katanga, a province located in the southeastern region.
This area, which is considered crucial to the strategic and economic interests of Kinshasa, has so far remained largely unaffected by the intense violence affecting the North and South Kivu provinces, much of which are currently under the control of M23 rebels.
The cobalt export curbs instituted by the DR Congo highlight how vulnerable the global market can be when supply is concentrated in one country. The world currently faces a similar vulnerability due to China’s control of the extraction and refining of many critical minerals. As exploration companies like Numa Numa Resources Inc. make headway in identifying viable deposits of many mineral resources, the dominance of one industry player in key supplies could eventually be broken.
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