Batteries · Cobaltite (CoAsS)
Cobalt
DR Congo produces 76% of the world's mining. Superalloys for jet engines, samarium-cobalt magnets for missiles and satellites, and battery cathodes.
- 76%
- of mining is in DR Congo
- 24%
- of EU imports of cobalt mattes and unwrought cobalt from outside the EU came from China in August 2026
- 3
- sites watched from orbit on OreOrbit
Where it is made
Share of world output held by the leading country at each stage. Sources: 2024, IEA, 2024, USGS.
What Europe imports
In August 2026, the EU imported €26.5 m of cobalt mattes and unwrought cobalt from outside the EU, 24% of it from China.
China everywhere else outside the EU. Monthly value of EU imports, Cobalt mattes and unwrought cobalt. Source: Eurostat Comext.
Why it matters for Europe
Finland is Europe's cobalt hub: Umicore refines it at Kokkola and Terrafame makes cobalt sulphate from its own ore at Sotkamo. China is the world's leading cobalt refiner.
Key figures
- 76% of world cobalt mine output came from the DR Congo in 2024 (220,000 of 290,000 t) USGS MCS 2025
- 87,000 t is the DR Congo's 2026 cobalt export quota, plus up to 9,600 t of strategic quota Fastmarkets, August 2026
Sites on the atlas
- Tenke FungurumeMine, DR Congo
- MutandaMine, DR Congo
- Kokkola cobalt refineryProcessing plant, Finland
Options for Europe
- 10 EU strategic projects
- Recycling meets 22% of EU demand today, against the EU's 25% goal for 2030.
Recent news
- Glencore cobalt output halves as Congo quotas bitenorthernminer.com, 29 Oct 2026 · found automatically
- US-Backed Fund Nears Glencore Congo StakeBriefs Finance (citing Bloomberg), 23 Oct 2026 · checked against the source
- Weak cobalt pricing sentiment across Antaike cobalt forum and LME Week driven by low LCO demand and large inventoriesBenchmark Mineral Intelligence, 23 Oct 2026 · checked against the source
- Critical raw materials: EU selects 46 projects to reduce dependence on foreign suppliersEunews, 9 Oct 2026 · checked against the source
Stories marked “found automatically” come from the GDELT news database and were not checked; open the source before quoting.