Congo to let cobalt miners keep 2025 quotas after exports delay

Cobalt miners in the Democratic Republic of Congo will be allowed to keep their allotted export quotas for this year as delays in implementing new procedures have prevented shipments.

The country is testing the new procedures now, and is guaranteeing that companies can keep the right to ship volumes that had been allotted through Dec. 31, the Authority for the Regulation and Control of Strategic Mineral Substances’ Markets, known as ARECOMS, said in an emailed response to questions on Thursday. That indicates that allowed volumes could be transferred into 2026.

The comments come almost two months after exports were expected to resume after Congo banned cobalt shipments in February and instituted the new quota system. The nation accounts for about three-quarters of output of the metal that’s used in electric-vehicle batteries and aerospace and defense industries. The government enacted strict controls to rein in oversupply and support prices.

“All means are being deployed to finalize the testing phase in the coming days, which will mark the resumption of cobalt exports from the DRC,” ARECOMS said. “The quotas from the last quarter will not be lost by mining companies. We are examining all implementation options to limit the impacts.”

Since Congo first suspended exports in February — when prices were languishing at historically low levels — a benchmark measure of the metal has more than doubled. Prices of cobalt hydroxide, the main product exported from Congo, have quadrupled.

The new quota system has confused miners, who were expecting to begin shipping their stockpiles in mid-October. ARECOMS said in September that miners would be allowed to ship just over 18,000 tons of the metal during the remainder of this year, and up to 96,600 tons a year in 2026 and 2027.

The volumes permitted for each of the next two years are less than half the country’s production in 2024.

The regulator is now indicating miners are allowed to ship their entire 2025 quota once the shipment procedures are set, adding that it’s testing the exports process with a pilot group of mining operators.

(By Michael J. Kavanagh and Annie Lee)