Congo creates strategic reserve of cobalt to influence supply and price, regulator says

The national minerals regulator announced on Thursday that the Democratic Republic of Congo had?established a strategy reserve for cobalt?and?othercritical minerals?. This would allow it to store unused export quotas, and exert greater control over global supply.

The agency stated that a decree passed by the cabinet in April 10 gave the authority to ARECOMS to manage the strategic reserve. ARECOMS is now able to purchase, store and?market the strategic minerals. Congo is the largest cobalt producer in the world, which is a key component of electric vehicle batteries. It accounted for 70% of global supply last year.

The company imposed an export ban for several months at the beginning of last year, before switching to a quota system in October. It was dealing with a slump in prices caused by an oversupply.

Congo exported about?48.800 metric tonnes of cobalt during the first quarter this year. This compares to a little over?123,000 tons for the same period last year when exports had been front-loaded prior to the four-month export freeze.

Congo has said that it will reserve 10% of its national cobalt export volume for strategic state use. This amounted 9,600 metric tonnes for 2026. Congo warned its miners in March that any export volumes not shipped within the deadlines set would be transferred to a strategic quota. The regulator warned that companies who did not export their allocated quotas for the fourth quarter of 2025 by April 30, and first quarter 2026 by June 30 would lose them.

The government will use the strategic reserve to manage its quota volume.

China's CMOC, Glencore and Eurasian Resources Group are among the top cobalt producers in the world.

ARECOMS stated that the strategic reserve provides the state with an additional tool to intervene 'in global cobalt market, complementing the quota policies aimed at rebalancing the prices.

It will enable the Congolese government to intervene in a targeted way regarding the available quantities of strategic minerals substances to "maintain" the international market's balance and to contribute to the strengthening of its economic sovereignty.

A 2018 Congo decree designated cobalt and coltan as strategic minerals, putting their production and exports under increased state supervision. (Reporting and editing by Edmund Klamann, Maxwell Akalaare Adombila)

(source: Reuters)