Congo cobalt exporters fear losing quotas due to administrative glitch, sources say
According to a letter and industry officials, major cobalt producers are at risk of losing some of their first-half exports quotas because of an administrative error affecting a platform for customs.
According to one industry source, due to the new directives that withdraw unused quotas the disruption could cause exports of battery metals from the leading global producers. This could lead up to 20,000 metric tonnes of missing shipments valued at $1.1 billion if current prices are used.
Congo is home to CMOC, a Chinese company, and Glencore, a London-listed miner, who are the largest and second-largest producers of cobalt in the world, along with Eurasian Resources Group, Huayou Cobalt, and Eurasian Resources Group.
CONGO TIGHTENS?CONTROLS EXPORT
Congo tightened its control over the market by imposing export restrictions and quotas in order to maintain prices that have risen 160% from February 2025, to $26 per pound or $57,320 for a ton.
ARECOMS (the Congo's strategic mineral regulator) has set a deadline of July 5, for exporters to utilise their first-half quotas. After that date, unused quota volumes will be withdrawn from the market and reallocated.
A mining executive stated that administrative delays are likely to prevent 60-75% companies from meeting the deadline.
The regulator also set an annual export limit of 96.600 tons for 2026-2027.
In a letter sent to ARECOMS on July 2, the Congo Chamber of Mines stated that producers had been unable since July 1 to submit export declarations using the?platform for customs?.
The letter stated that the blockage was caused by the lack of a formal notification authorizing customs to process export quotas.
The executive stated that mining?companies had urged ARECOMS, to resolve the problem and extend the deadline. They also 'added that they 'had asked the Prime Minister to intervene.
Requests for comment from ARECOMS and the Mining Ministry, as well as the Industry Chamber, were not immediately responded to.
Sources at CMOC say that the company has requested a delay of the deadline for July 5, but have not yet received a response. They add that a month's extension would be sufficient.
CMOC didn't immediately respond to a?request for comment.
The source said that CMOC may lose almost its entire second-quarter export quota if these issues are not resolved soon. The source, like the others in the industry, spoke under condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to media. (Reporting and writing by Ange Adihe Kaongo, Tom Daly, and Pratima Deai; Editing by Helen Popper).
(source: Reuters)
