From Yahoo Finance: 2025-03-24 11:30:00

The Democratic Republic of Congo is considering extending its cobalt export ban due to a drop in prices. The ban, started in February, aims to stabilise the market by addressing oversupply. DRC plans to enforce quotas and work with Indonesia to regulate pricing. Stricter regulations for domestic cobalt industry have been introduced.

After a cabinet meeting, it was reported that cobalt prices rose by over 50% since the export ban. President Tshisekedi emphasized the need to maintain the ban for market stability. China saw cobalt futures prices jump by over 9% due to strategic purchasing and discussions of the ban extension. Major producers in DRC are CMOC Group and Glencore.

CMOC Group had increased cobalt output to 114,000 tonnes from 56,000 by ramping up copper production. Prices on China’s Wuxi Stainless Steel Exchange have risen by 55% since February. China’s National Food and Strategic Reserves Administration has been actively bidding for metals including cobalt. China is making strategic purchases due to the potential extension of the DRC’s export ban.



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