Congo may extend cobalt export suspension, president says

Democratic Republic of Congo may extend a suspension of cobalt exports beyond a planned four-month period as it considers ways to maintain higher prices for the electric-vehicle battery material, President Felix Tshisekedi said.

Cobalt prices have soared more than 50% from a two-decade-low since Congo implemented the export ban on Feb. 22 to rein in oversupply. The central African nation accounts for about three-quarters of world production.

After the four-month suspension is up, “a thorough assessment will be conducted to determine whether to extend it or adopt new strategies aimed at maintaining market balance and laying the foundations for sustainable local industrialization,” Tshisekedi told his cabinet Friday, according to minutes of the meeting shared with reporters Monday. “The ultimate goal remains complete control of the cobalt value chain.”

Benchmark prices for the metal are up to $16.10 a pound Monday after dropping below $10 Feb. 21, a level not breached for 21 years apart from a brief dip in late 2015, according to Fastmarkets data.

Cobalt production in Congo has soared in recent years, as China’s CMOC Group Ltd. ramped up output at two large mines in the country causing supply to race ahead of demand and prices to tumble. The government is considering a number of measures including export quotas that could allow it to better control the price in the future.

Congo’s Authority for the Regulation and Control of Strategic Mineral Substances’ Markets, known as ARECOMS, is the “only body authorized to comment publicly on the measures,” Tshisekedi said.

The country’s other major cobalt producers include Eurasian Resources Group and Glencore Plc.

(By Michael J. Kavanagh and William Clowes)

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