Introduction: Despite a decline in mineral cobalt production, global refined cobalt concentrate output rose year-on-year in 2016, reaching 107,500 tons for the full year—a growth of approximately 3% over the previous year. This indicates that the global cobalt market has entered a phase of digesting existing raw material inventories. From 2017 to 2018, global cobalt supply is expected to grow at rates of 2% and 4%, respectively, with global supply reaching 109,000 tons in 2017 and 114,000 tons in 2018.

Despite a decline in mineral cobalt production, global refined cobalt concentrate output rose year-on-year in 2016, reaching 107,500 tons for the full year—a growth of about 3% over the previous year. This indicates that the global cobalt market has entered a phase of digesting existing raw material inventories. From 2017 to 2018, global cobalt supply is expected to grow at rates of 2% and 4%, respectively, with global supply reaching 109,000 tons in 2017 and 114,000 tons in 2018.

Global cobalt resources are concentrated, with nearly half of the world’s reserves located in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. According to statistics, total global cobalt reserves in 2015 amounted to 7.16 million tons, of which the DRC held 3.4 million tons, Australia 1.1 million tons, and Cuba 500,000 tons. China’s reserves totaled only 80,000 tons, accounting for just about 1% of the world’s cobalt resources.

Among global cobalt resources, 41% are copper-cobalt ores, 36% are nickel-copper-cobalt sulfide ores, and 15% are lateritic nickel-cobalt ores. In terms of the distribution of global cobalt production, copper-cobalt ores account for 60%, nickel-copper-cobalt sulfide ores for 23%, and lateritic nickel-cobalt ores for 15%. In these ores, the cobalt grades are significantly lower than those of copper and nickel, meaning that cobalt mining is more heavily influenced by copper and nickel prices, while cobalt prices themselves have relatively little impact. The substantial year-on-year increase of nearly 30% in cobalt supply in 2010 was driven by the high copper prices that year.

In 2016, global cobalt production from mines totaled 108,700 tons, a year-on-year decrease of 7.2%. Among these, the Democratic Republic of Congo accounted for nearly 65% of the total, followed by regions such as Russia, Canada, and Australia. Starting from the second half of 2016, political instability emerged in the Congo. On December 19, after the incumbent president’s term expired, he refused to step down, escalating the risk of conflict among various parties and leading to a decline in domestic cobalt production—particularly from small-scale and artisanal mines. Meanwhile, artisanal mines have been subject to government crackdowns due to issues such as child labor, which has also affected their output. As a result, Congo’s cobalt production fell by 7% year-on-year in 2016 to 77,400 tons. The Congo has long been China’s primary importer of cobalt ore; in 2016, China’s imports of cobalt ore and concentrates saw a significant decline.

Despite a decline in mineral cobalt production, global refined cobalt concentrate output rose year-on-year in 2016, reaching 107,500 tons for the full year—a growth of about 3% over the previous year. This indicates that the global cobalt market has entered a phase of digesting existing raw material inventories. From 2017 to 2018, global cobalt supply is expected to grow at rates of 2% and 4%, respectively, with global supply reaching 109,000 tons in 2017 and 114,000 tons in 2018.