The Democratic Republic of Congo has resumed cobalt exports after a 10-month halt intended to stem falling prices due to global oversupply, the government said on Tuesday.

The DRC is the world's leading producer of cobalt – a metal critical to top-range batteries, including those used in smartphones and electric cars.

Initially imposed for four months, the ban was designed to stabilise the market "in the face of an overabundance of supply" internationally, the government said at the time.

"Since Friday, the Democratic Republic of Congo has resumed exporting its cobalt," Finance Minister Doudou Fwamba told reporters.

'Sovereignty over raw materials'

He stressed the suspension in February had been designed to ensure "national sovereignty over raw materials."

The DRC produced 76% of the world's cobalt in 2024, according to the US Geological Survey.

"How can we be the number-one supplier of 70% of this strategic product yet not influence price formation? We refused to accept that," Fwamba said.

The export ban was aimed at stemming the fall in prices caused by abundant supply, notably from Chinese mining company CMOC.

'Lost fiscal revenue'

CMOC operates Tenke Fungurume and Kisanfu in the DRC, two of the world's largest mines.

"We lost fiscal revenue due to the systematic decline in prices," the minister added.

He said the strategy – led by Congolese government body ARECOMS, which regulates small-scale subsistence mining – had paid off.

"The price of cobalt has risen from $22,000 per tonne to $54,000 or $55,000," he said.

Cobalt is mainly extracted from mines in the southeastern province of Katanga.

The province has largely been spared from the armed conflict ravaging the eastern mining provinces of North Kivu and South Kivu, where M23 rebels control vast swathes of territory.