HK Stock Market Move | CMOC Group Limited (03993) fell more than 7% in the afternoon, reportedly due to the latest cobalt export regulations introduced by the Democratic Republic of Congo exacerbating industry skepticism.

CMOC Group Limited (03993) fell by more than 7% in the afternoon, and as of press time, it was down by 6.74% to HK$17.86, with a turnover of HK$1.037 billion. On the news front, according to the Mining Rights Resources Network, market news on December 8th stated that the latest cobalt export regulations introduced by the world's largest cobalt supplier, the Democratic Republic of Congo, are causing widespread concerns in the global mining and lithium battery industry chain. Since replacing the export ban with a quota system in October, the additional temporary licensing fees and complicated procedures have added uncertainty to the already tense cobalt supply chain, and the price of cobalt has doubled from its low point at the beginning of the year. The core controversy of this new regulation focuses on the details of calculating the export licensing fees. An anonymous mining executive revealed to the media that the industry is confused about the 10% prepayment-based calculation benchmark for the licensing fees - companies urgently want clarification on whether this fee will deduct the transaction amount from the last export before the February export ban was implemented, which directly affects the cost of capital utilization for companies. It is understood that since the implementation of the cobalt export quota system in the Democratic Republic of Congo on October 16th, companies have been required to prepay 10% of the sales value in licensing fees before shipment, and the latest regulations have not clearly stated the calculation basis, exacerbating the wait-and-see sentiment among businesses.