• CMOC increased DRC cobalt production to 61,073 tonnes in the first half of 2025, up 13% year-on-year.
• Cobalt exports remain frozen under a government embargo, while copper prices hit record highs.
• Cobalt prices jumped 60% after the embargo but CMOC cannot ship, forcing a stockpile build-up.

China’s CMOC group ramped up cobalt output in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to 61,073 tonnes in the first half of 2025, a 13% rise over last year. The company shared these results in a financial report on July 14. Production surged 20% in the first quarter, as CMOC mined a total of 30,414 tonnes from its Tenke-Fungurume and Kisanfu sites.

CMOC credited higher mineral prices for the production jump. Cobalt is a by-product of copper, and surging copper prices have driven the mining boom. 

Yet the landscape for cobalt is difficult. Since February 24, CMOC has not exported cobalt after the Congolese government imposed an embargo to support prices as the market faces oversupply. On June 30, CMOC halted all cobalt deliveries. Its trading subsidiary, IXM, declared force majeure on cobalt contracts in response to the disruption.

After the embargo started, cobalt prices soared by 60%, hitting a peak of $33,700 per tonne in April. While prices dropped in June, they rebounded following a DRC decision to extend the export ban. Cobalt is still trading above $33,700 per tonne.

CMOC says it still targets annual cobalt production between 100,000 and 120,000 tonnes in 2025. However, the path to resuming exports remains unclear. The export embargo technically ends in September, but the Regulatory Authority for Strategic Mineral Substances Markets (ARECOMS) has warned it might extend, modify, or lift the ban at any time. The agency has not announced a target price for lifting the restriction. The DRC state budget for 2025 is based on a cobalt price of $28,000 per tonne.

Pierre Mukoko with Agence Ecofin