DRC Dominates Green Metal production, Boosting Cobalt supply in 2022.

The cobalt market has seen its biggest increase in supply in 2022, driven by booming production of the crucial battery metal in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Indonesia, according to specialist trading firm Darton Commodities, reports. mining.com.

Mined cobalt supply rose 23% to 187,060 tonnes in 2022, in a surge in supply that erased a large deficit seen in 2021 and left the market in one of its biggest surpluses ever. at the end of the year, Darton said Monday in its annual cobalt report.

This surge in supply has been driven by increases in the DRC – which accounts for around 75% of global supply – as well as Indonesia, an emerging power in the small but rapidly growing market.

The DRC produced more than 111,000 tons of cobalt in 2022.

It was observed that this surge in supply coincided with a sharp slowdown in demand from the electronics sector, which rivals the electric vehicle industry as the biggest consumer of battery metal. 

While surging EV sales helped fuel a sharp rise in prices at the start of 2022, cobalt has since fallen more than 60% from its June peak.

Global mining production is estimated to have increased by 42% between 2020 and 2022 amid the easing of supply chain constraints related to Covid-19, the ramping up of existing operations and the commissioning of several new mines, according to Darton.

In 2022, Glencore Plc was by far the largest mineral miner in the world, mainly from its two operations in the DRC. Eurasian Resources Group and China’s CMOC Group Ltd., which also have significant operations in Congo, followed the Swiss company as the biggest producers.

Last year, 44% of the world’s mining supply was owned or controlled by Chinese companies, which also account for 78% of refined cobalt output, according to Darton estimates.

 Mining output is expected to increase by around another third over the next two years, the UK-based trading house said, the same source reports.