China’s CMOC Group overtook Glencore to become the world’s largest producer of cobalt last year as it ramped up its new Kisanfu mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The company’s production leapt by 174% year-on-year to 55,526 metric tons, accounting for over a quarter of global demand of 213,000 tons.
Kisanfu, in which Chinese battery giant CATL owns a minority stake, has flooded the cobalt market. The Cobalt Institute estimates global production exceeded demand by 12,500 tons in 2023, making it one of the “biggest surpluses in recent years”. CMOC is unconcerned. It plans to lift output further this year despite a slump in the cobalt price from $40 per lb in May 2022 to a current $13.
Others can’t afford to be so sanguine. The price implosion has upturned project economics and undermined Western hopes of reducing dependency on China for a metal that is critical both to clean energy technology and military hardware.
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