By: Mining mx

The Democratic Republic of Congo will establish a strategic reserve of cobalt, coltan and germanium, giving the central African country greater control over markets for some of the world’s most critical metals, said the Financial Times.

The reserve, adopted by decree of the DRC’s council of ministers last week, will be administered by the country’s Strategic Mineral Substances Market Regulation and Control Authority, the newspaper said. Its head, Patrick Luabeya, said the aim was to “control and balance the market” rather than speculate on prices, though he acknowledged that a price recovery would be welcome.

“This is being done to have a tool to control and balance the market in the future,” Luabeya said, adding that future export bans remained an option if market distortions emerged. “We can announce another ban if we notice that there is a distortion.”

The move builds on the DRC’s temporary cobalt export ban last year and subsequent quota system, which shook global markets and helped drive cobalt prices more than double from their lows, said the Financial times.

Luabeya said 21 export quotas had been issued to companies so far. Glencore previously flagged delays in the quota system’s implementation, saying these had resulted in zero cobalt exports from the country in 2025.

Cobalt is a key component in electric vehicle batteries, coltan is essential to the semiconductor industry, and germanium is used in fibre optic and infrared systems and has significant military applications. Luabeya said other minerals could be added to the reserve as the definition of strategic minerals is broadened beyond a 2018 decree.

The DRC’s move mirrors a broader trend across Africa, where countries including Zimbabwe, Mali and Niger have introduced export restrictions or new mining legislation to capture greater value from their resources. The US has separately announced plans for a $12bn critical minerals stockpile for civilian manufacturers.