DRC cobalt export conditions tighten with new quota and royalty rules

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has implemented caller cobalt export conditions nether a quota system, reinforcing its power implicit the captious artillery mineral.

The caller rules necessitate miners to wage a 10% royalty successful beforehand wrong 48 hours and get a compliance certificate, according to a authorities circular reviewed by Reuters.

In October, the DRC ended its months-long export prohibition and introduced a quota system, aiming to summation authorities revenues and heighten regulatory oversight successful the country, which supplies much than 70% of the world’s cobalt.

Cobalt is simply a captious worldly for electrical conveyance (EV) batteries.

Since the prohibition was lifted, exports person not resumed arsenic producers question clarification and enactment to comply with the caller regulations, according to the quality agency.

A associated circular issued by the mines and concern ministries connected 26 November outlines the updated export procedures.

These see mandatory quota verification, associated sampling, weighing and sealing of export lots, and the issuance of a quota verification certificate (AVQ) by the Authority for the Regulation and Control of Strategic Mineral Substances' Markets (ARECOMS).

Exporters are present required to pre-pay a 10% mining royalty connected allocated quotas wrong 48 hours of filing root and income declarations.

They indispensable besides unafraid a "liberatory receipt" earlier customs clearance.

According to the circular, each mineral shipments volition beryllium physically inspected and monitored by aggregate agencies.

The ministries of mines and finance, arsenic good arsenic the DRC'S mines chamber, did not instantly respond to requests for comment, said Reuters.

For the 4th fourth of 2025, the DRC has acceptable export quotas astatine 18,125 tonnes (t) and astatine 96,600t per twelvemonth from 2026.

The largest allocations are said to person been assigned to large producers including China's CMOC and Glencore, portion ARECOMS holds a 10% strategical reserve.

The authorities cautioned that the nonaccomplishment to comply with the caller export rules could effect successful terrible penalties including licence revocation.

A mining executive, speaking connected information of anonymity owed to the sensitivity of the issue, was quoted by the quality bureau arsenic saying: "Companies privation to recognize whether the 10% royalty to beryllium paid for export volition instrumentality into relationship the magnitude from the past export (before the ban)."

Panmure Liberum expert Duncan Hay added: "Congo's shifting export rules connection nary certainty – last-minute royalty demands and analyzable paperwork volition support exports and prices volatile."

The DRC, which is besides a important copper producer, precocious launched its archetypal batch of traceable artisanal cobalt and formed a concern with Swiss commodity trader Mercuria to marketplace cobalt, copper and different captious minerals.