Glencore Faces Cobalt Supply Strain As Congo Export Limits Tighten Global Market Conditions

Lithium-ion battery pack for BMW i3 electric vehicle at the Munich Trade-Show Electronica. Image credit: RudolfSimon, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

London-listed Glencore supplies its Chinese clients with cobalt mined in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The central African country accounts for 72% of global supplies estimated at nearly 268,000 metric tonnes last year, according to Darton Commodities.

Congo's government suspended exports in February last year to support cobalt prices, which had dropped to nine-year lows. The suspension remained in place until Congo introduced export quotas last October.

Glencore was able to take cobalt it had stockpiled in Malaysia to China last year, one of the sources said, but the Swiss-based firm doesn't have enough to meet its contractual obligations in the country.

Cobalt stocks in Wuxi have more than halved since late January to around 3,934 tonnes. Glencore took most of the cobalt from Wuxi, the sources said.

Glencore declined to comment.

Glencore produced 33,500 tonnes of cobalt in Congo last year, and it plans to export 22,800 tonnes this year from the country under the quota system applicable at least until the end of 2027, according to its 2025 production report.

"Cobalt produced (in Congo) in excess of the allocated quotas continues to be stored in-country and will be sold as circumstances allow," the report said.

Cobalt metal prices have increased 160% since February 2025 to $26/lb or $57,320 a tonne due to shortages created by Congo's move to restrict exports.

Congo's cobalt is a byproduct of copper production and comes in the form of hydroxide used to make cobalt sulphate for lithium-ion batteries.

Cobalt hydroxide is priced as a percentage of the cobalt metal price — known as payables.

Traders say payables are now regularly quoted at record highs of 100%. Cobalt hydroxide payables were at 55% in January 2025.