An estimated 120,000 tons of copper and 12,500 tons of cobalt have been stranded in the DRC since mid-July, according to sources close to Bloomberg. The value of the copper stockpile would be equal to 1.1 billion at market prices, which is anecdotal compared to global production. But while Congo is one of the world’s largest suppliers of ore, it is a different story when it comes to cobalt. The Tenke Fungurume site alone accounts for about 15% of global production, and the supply chains for electric car batteries are dependent on a very small number of cobalt mines around the world. In a market where mineral prices are particularly volatile, the Tenke Fungurume cobalt stockpile poses the threat of further fluctuations in world prices.
Source Bloomberg