By Ange Kasongo and Sonia Rolley
KINSHASA (Reuters) – The Democratic Republic of Congo, the world’s top producer of cobalt, said on Monday it has temporarily halted the metal’s exports to limit its flow on the market because it says it is over-supplied.
The ban will be in place for at least four months, the Authority for the Regulation and Control of Strategic Mineral Substances’ Markets, or ARECOMS, said in a statement.
“This measure is intended to regulate supply on the international market, which is faced with a production glut,” ARECOMS President Patrick Luabeya said in the statement.
To enforce and ensure that mining companies comply with the ban, ARECOMS issued a decree, seen by Reuters. The decree was signed by ARECOMS’ Luabeya and co-signed by Mines Minister Kizito Pakabomba.
The export ban of cobalt — a key component in batteries for electric vehicles and mobile phones — is effective February 22 and could either be adjusted or terminated after three months, he said.
News of the temporary metal exports ban was earlier reported by Bloomberg News.
China’s CMOC Group, the world’s biggest cobalt miner, last year more than doubled its output of the metal to about 114,000 metric tons from about 56,000 tons, as it boosts copper production at its two mines in Congo.
CMOC did not immediately respond to emailed questions.
Eurasian Resources Group, another big Congo cobalt producer, also did not immediately respond to emailed questions while Glencore declined to comment.
The agency said the ban is for all cobalt produced in the country, including by small scale or artisanal miners.
As well as mining cobalt, Congo is also the world’s second-biggest copper producer.
(Reporting by Ange Kasongo in Kinshasa and Sonia Rolley in Paris, Disha Mishra in Bengaluru, Writing by Felix Njini; Editing by David Goodman, Tomasz Janowski; and Sandra Maler)
