Congo boosts cobalt prices

amsterdam - Congo is going to raise prices for its raw material cobalt, increasingly used in batteries in electric cars.

President Kabila announced that he would sign a proposal to this end that would set a premium for royalties of at least 10% on the price for buyers if a raw material is 'strategic'.

'Given the limited amount of cobalt on the market today, we expect that miners will pass on the price increases to their customers because there is still little mining for cobalt,' said an analyst from investment bank BMO.

The intervention is crucial. Sales of battery cars have risen by 57% last year. Approximately 60% of all cobalt extracted now comes from the Republic of Congo.

In response, share prices of mining companies such as Glencore and China Molybdenum went down.