Congo extends its cobalt export prohibition by three months

A regulatory agency announced on Saturday that the Democratic Republic of Congo had extended its ban on cobalt exports by another three months to reduce oversupply of this material for electric vehicle batteries. In February, the world's largest cobalt exporter suspended exports for four months after prices fell to a nine-year-low of $10 per pound. The ban was set to expire Sunday.

The Authority for the Regulation and Control of Strategic Mineral Substances' Markets' (ARECOMS), in a press release, said that the decision to extend the suspension was made due to the high stock levels on the market.

ARECOMS stated that it would announce a decision in the future to modify, extend or end the suspension by the time the new 3-month window ends in September. Reports on Friday said that Congolese officials were looking at extending the suspension as they looked into how to distribute cobalt quotas among mining companies.

Glencore, which is the second largest cobalt producer in the world, has backed a proposal to implement quotas. Glencore's position is different from the number one cobalt producer, China's CMOC Group. They have lobbied to lift the ban. (Reporting and writing by Ange Kasongo, Felix Njini, Aaron Ross; editing by Hugh Lawson).

(source: Reuters)