The Asian cobalt market may see support in the third quarter from potential supply tightness as inventory levels across the region draw down amid an extension of the ban on exports by the Democratic Republic of Congo. The magnitude of this support would depend on how quickly stocks outside the DRC are consumed…"We forecast the export ban extension will remove a further 51,000 mt of cobalt mine supply from the market in the short term, potentially supporting prices," according to an S&P Global Commodity Insights metals and mining analytics report. It added that "the export ban is not the end goal" and "until the export quota is established, market tightness is expected to persist, and the coming months will be crucial for policy clarity and inventory management."…The DRC is a major cobalt-producing country, expected to account for 72.8% of the total mined cobalt supply in 2025, according to Platts metals and mining data. Further export curbs will significantly impact cobalt supply planning, trade flows, and pricing, but would not help restore balance to market fundamentals…The DRC's cobalt supply made up 98.7% of China's cobalt hydroxide imports in 2024 at 620,365.8 mt…Indonesia is second to the DRC, accounting for 11.1% of the global mined cobalt supply in 2024, Platts data showed.

China’s CMOC Group Ltd. produced more cobalt at its two mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo in the first half of this year, despite the African nation’s ban on exports…The world’s largest cobalt miner reported a 13% year-on-year rise in production of the material, also used in batteries and alloys, to 61,073 tons during the January-June period, according to a preliminary earnings statement released on Monday…The increase comes even as Congo – which accounts for about 70% of global cobalt output – recently extended an export ban first announced in February for another three months to September. The country cited “a continued high level of stock on the market,” as it attempts to rein in a global cobalt glut deepened by CMOC’s breakneck expansion in recent years…Spot prices of cobalt hydroxide have more than doubled since the export suspension. 

July Global sales of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles jumped 24% in June from a year ago, as a switch to electric vehicles maintained momentum in China and Europe, market research firm Rho Motion said on Tuesday…Still, EV sales in the United States were down 1% in the month and will struggle to pick up this year, after President Donald Trump's spending bill cut tax credits sooner than anticipated, Rho Motion's data manager Charles Lester said…Global automakers face a 25% import tariff in the United States, the world's second-largest car market, causing many of them to withdraw their outlooks for 2025…While some of the most successful EVs in the small vehicle segment are produced by European carmakers such as Volkswagen and Renault, those by Chinese brands including BYD are taking up market share in the continent and driving growth in emerging markets, Lester said.