Kisanfu Leads DRC Cobalt Hydroxide Exports as CMOC Assets Reach 31.7% Share
DRC Cobalt Exports: Kisanfu Leads as CMOC Accounts for 31.7% of Hydroxide Shipments
CMOC Kisanfu Mining emerged as the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) largest exporter of cobalt hydroxide in the first half of 2026, shipping 24,824.78 tonnes containing 8,410.14 tonnes of cobalt, according to provisional statistics from the Ministry of Mines.
Kisanfu accounted for approximately 20.9% of the DRC’s 119,015.45 tonnes of cobalt hydroxide exports between January and June.
In terms of contained cobalt, its shipments represented about 20.4% of the national total of 41,140 tonnes.
The company ranked ahead of Kamoto Copper Company (KCC), which exported 15,348.96 tonnes of hydroxide, Metalkol with 14,353.05 tonnes and Tenke Fungurume Mining (TFM) with 12,878.27 tonnes.
Together, the four largest exporters accounted for 67,405.06 tonnes, or 56.6% of the DRC’s total cobalt hydroxide exports during the six-month period.
The company-by-company ranking, however, does not fully capture the concentration of cobalt exports among major mining groups.
CMOC owns 71.25% of Kisanfu Mining and 80% of TFM, giving the Chinese mining group significant exposure to the DRC’s cobalt export flows.
When the two operations are combined, their first-half exports reached 37,703.05 tonnes of cobalt hydroxide, containing 12,865.75 tonnes of cobalt.
This represents 31.7% of all cobalt hydroxide exports from the DRC and approximately 31.3% of contained cobalt exports.
The combined figure makes CMOC’s position considerably stronger than Kisanfu’s individual ranking suggests.
Kisanfu remains the country’s largest single exporter, but the group’s overall footprint is substantially larger when TFM is included.
CMOC is not the only major international group with a substantial share of the DRC’s cobalt exports.
KCC, the second-largest exporter, is 70% controlled by Glencore, which also owns 95% of Mutanda Mining.
KCC and Mutanda exported a combined 24,241.61 tonnes of cobalt hydroxide during the first half, equivalent to approximately 20.4% of national exports.
Meanwhile, Metalkol, which is 90% owned by Eurasian Resources Group (ERG) and 10% by the Congolese state, exported 14,353.05 tonnes, representing about 12.1% of national hydroxide exports.
When the assets predominantly controlled by CMOC, Glencore and ERG are considered together, their combined exports reached approximately 76,298 tonnes of cobalt hydroxide in the first six months of 2026.
That amounts to about 64.1% of the DRC’s total cobalt hydroxide exports. In contained cobalt, the three groups accounted for approximately 26,188 tonnes, or 63.7% of the national total.
The concentration is also evident geographically.
The CTCPM data attributes approximately 108,263 tonnes of cobalt hydroxide exports to Lualaba Province, compared with about 10,753 tonnes from Haut-Katanga.
This means that more than nine tonnes out of every 10 tonnes of cobalt hydroxide exported by the DRC during the first half originated from Lualaba.
The figures highlight the province’s central role in the country’s industrial cobalt supply chain, with several of the DRC’s largest copper-cobalt operations located in and around the Kolwezi mining region.
However, the export figures should not be interpreted as total mine production or as each company’s annual cobalt allocation.
The statistics specifically measure cobalt hydroxide exports recorded by the CTCPM during the period.
The concentration of exports among a small number of major mining groups nevertheless illustrates the structure of the DRC’s industrial cobalt sector.
With the country’s cobalt exports now operating under a more tightly regulated quota system, subsequent figures will show whether this concentration remains unchanged during the second half of 2026.
