The export ban on Congolese cobalt will be lifted next week.

According to the latest news on Saturday, the Ministry of Mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo announced that the 8-month ban on cobalt exports will be lifted next week (October 16th). As background, Congo (Kinshasa) supplies about three-quarters of the world's cobalt, and discontent with the low price of cobalt led to the implementation of the export ban on February 22nd this year, which was later extended for 3 months in June, until September when a quota system was finally implemented. When the ban was implemented, the benchmark price of cobalt had dropped to less than $10 per pound, but since then the price has doubled. The price of cobalt hydroxide, the country's main export product, has more than tripled. With the rise in cobalt prices, the country's mining regulatory authority announced limited plans to resume exports. Only just over 18,000 tons will be approved for export for the remainder of this year, with a maximum export volume of 96,600 tons per year for the next two years - less than half of the country's production volume last year. Trade company Darton Commodities estimated in a report this week that if this policy is strictly enforced, the cobalt market may shift to a supply shortage as early as the end of 2026 or as late as the beginning of 2027. The Strategic Mineral Market Regulatory Agency (ARECOMS) in Congo (Kinshasa) revealed on Saturday that the new regulations for implementing export quotas will take effect on October 16th. All companies approved for quotas must prepay a royalty fee to the country at 10% of the sales value before shipping the cobalt. The agency also warned that the country will revoke the cobalt export quotas of companies that fail to meet export quotas, violate environmental or tax regulations, or transfer quotas to third parties. ARECOMS specifically pointed out that in the future, export quotas granted to mining companies may be adjusted based on the companies' "contribution to the development of the country's strategic projects," especially in developing high-value-added cobalt processing capacity domestically. The new regulations also set aside a 10% "strategic quota" for the next two years, which will be allocated by ARECOMS. It was also disclosed on Saturday that major mining companies have been allocated export quotas. According to ARECOMS, these quotas are calculated proportionally based on the three-year export volume of each company until the end of 2024. The top two cobalt producers have been approved for quotas of 6,500 tons and 3,925 tons respectively by the end of this year. For compliant operators, quotas approved in December 2025 will automatically convert to monthly quotas for 2026. This article is reprinted from Caishen. Editor: Chen Wenfang.