To those who say you can’t have too much of a good thing…meet Cobalt

DRC suspends cobalt exports for four months trying to rein in oversupply on the international market, as prices crash below $10/lb. Cobalt hydroxide, main form of the metal produced in Congo, slid below $6/lb.—levels not breached for 21 years,apart from a brief dip in late 2015, according to Fastmarkets data.

Cobalt production in the DRC– which produces about 75% of the material used in electric-vehicle batteries – has soared in recent years, as China's CMOC Group Ltd. ramped up output at two large mines in the country causing supply to race ahead of demand and prices to tumble. 

About two-thirds of global cobalt mine supply is owned by companies from China, which accounted for an equivalent share of cobalt demand last year, according to specialist trading house Darton Commodities.

Gulf states putting their $ into #Mining

"Middle East is looking to diversify and has a war chest."

Interesting article from the FT on the new kids on the Mining block.

#Zambia's Mopani #Copper deal with #UAE's International Resources Holding IRH, part of the $240bn business empire of powerful Abu Dhabi royal Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed al-Nahyan, finalized at the end of March marks a new force sweeping through the global mining sector.

"Gulf nations, hungry to diversify their economies beyond fossil fuels, are redirecting petrodollars to secure copper, nickel and other minerals used in power transmission lines, electric cars and renewable power."

"Washington has welcomed the Gulf's expanding role in mining for helping to break Beijing's monopoly over processing critical minerals. The US has been actively brokering Saudi, Emirati and Qatari investment

#BatteryMetals producers look to establish their own cartel

As the electrification drive continues globally in the search for lower fossil fuel emissions, the producers and refiners of the metals needed for this "revolution" are finding themselves at the intersection of the world's supply chains and geopolitics.

The FT takes on the subject in this latest piece.

The new commodity superpowers

"We're not satisfied. None of these contracts create value for us," says Guy Robert Lukama, head of the DRC's state-owned mining company Gécamines. He would like to see more jobs, revenue and higher-value mineral activities captured by the DRC.

Lukama also advocates government intervention to keep cobalt prices high: "Excess of supply needs to be organised properly. Some export quotas will be useful," he says.