DRC lifts Cobalt export ban: New quota system is intended to stabilize global delivery and prices

The Democratic Republic Congo (DRC) announced that it will cancel its eight -month Cobalt Export Ban on October 16 and it will replace it with annual quotas designed to stabilize global delivery and prices.

Bloomberg reported That the authority of the country for the regulation and control of the markets of strategic mineral substances (Arecoms) will enable miners to export 18,125 tons of cobalt for the rest of 2025.

Annual limits of 96,600 tons are set for both 2026 and 2027, states the article on Sunday (September 21). Quota will be assigned to a pro-rata basis and according to the historical export of every company.

The export suspension, that was For the first time imposed in February And then extensively in June, was activated by a collapse of prices that Kobalt brought to his weakest level in nine years. The benchmark prices earlier this year fell under US $ 10 per pound, a threshold that has not been violated in more than two decades, except for a short dip in 2015.

The decrease in cobalt prices followed on an increase in the output of the Chinese Miner CMOC group (HKEX: 3993, SH: 603993, OTC Pink: CMCLF), which has expanded two large projects in the DRC. Since then, Cobalt has organized a recovery, with prices for Kobalthydroxide that rises more than two and a half times from their lows.

Yet the stocks remain high and the Government of the DRC has steeped in stricter checks on the sector.

Arecoms said that the quota system will enable it to intervene in the market by buying back cobalt shares that exceed the authorized three -month shipments of companies. It added that 10 percent of future volumes will be reserved for ‘strategic national projects’ and that quotas can be adjusted, depending on the market conditions or progress in local refining.

The new rules have broad implications for both producers and consumers. Mining giant Glencore (LSE: Glen, OTC Pink: GLCNF), one of the largest operators in the country, has supported the system while CMOC is against it.

Both companies Declared force majeure earlier this year after the prohibition had cut off the export.

The reaction of the Chinese market was fast. The prices for Kobalt fell lower on Monday (September 22) and fell around 2 percent on the opening on the Wuxi -Train Free Steel exhibition, because traders re -assess the expectations and stock levels.

The import of cobalt intermediates in China, the largest buyer of the Congolese output, was already pressed by more than 90 percent in August compared to a year earlier.

The shift also comes during a period of increased instability in the eastern DRC, where the government says that illegal mineral exploitation feeds the uprising of M23 rebels. Although it has remained largely unregulated, the traditional mining sector will continue to take into account a considerable part of cobalt production.

Market guards say The new Cobalt export quotas of the DRC can greatly reduce effective delivery, even if production capacity continues to grow. As stated, the export will be drained at 96,600 tons per year in 2026 and 2027, a figure that amounts to less than half of the approximately 220,000 tons produced worldwide in 2024.

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Publication of securities: I, Giann Liguid, has no direct investment interest in a company mentioned in this article.