While the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is experiencing a historic alternation, the price of cobalt collapses on international markets. Owing to 60% of the reserves of this mineral used for the manufacture of cathodes, Kinshasa declared it “strategic”.
The market will remind the Congolese authorities that it is he who will always have the last word. Thus, after reaching the record high of $ 95,000 per tonne at the end of the first quarter of 2018, the colbat now stands at $ 33,000 on the London Metals Exchange (LME).
Blame it on an offer disconnected from market prices, a fledgling futures market and predominant Chinese buyers who are blowing hot and cold. Beyond the market’s wait-and-see attitude, it seems that cobalt has been the subject of large-scale speculation since March 2016.
At the very least, this 55% drop in blue metal restricts the flexibility of President Felix Tshisekedi, who has just announced a 100-day emergency program. It will be necessary to correct the 2019 national budget which had planned a production of one hundred thousand tons at a price of ninety-five thousand US dollars per ton.