(Reuters) – The Democratic Republic of Congo says it has suspended cobalt exports for four months to rein in oversupply of the battery metal on the international market, Bloomberg News reported on Monday.
The measures came into force on February 22, the report said, citing Patrick Luabeya, president of the Authority for the Regulation and Control of Strategic Mineral Substances’ Markets, known as ARECOMS.
ARECOMS did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
The decision will be reviewed in three months, Luabeya told Bloomberg in written responses to questions.
Congo is the world’s top producer of cobalt, a key component in batteries for electric vehicles and mobile phones.
The agency is also preparing additional measures to balance the cobalt market, encouraging more processing of strategic minerals in Congo and achieve “a transparent and fair pricing mechanism”, the report added, citing Luabeya.
(Reporting by Disha Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by David Goodman)
