Cobalt: Characteristics
Strong when hot, magnetic, and a battery stabiliser
What this tab covers The supply and physical characteristics of the commodity. Supply: current production, inventories and stocks, capacity utilisation, geographic and producer concentration, how fast supply responds to price, the project pipeline and capital spending, and logistics and export flows. Material: the physical and chemical properties that set its grade, price and end uses (for example purity and conductivity for metals, API gravity, sulfur and energy content for fuels, moisture, protein and fibre quality for crops).Supply volume characteristics
| Characteristic | Figure | What it means | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current production volume | about 310 kt mine output (2025e); about 240 kt refined (2025) | The DRC mined 230 kt (73%) and Indonesia 44 kt (14%). China produced 78.6% of refined cobalt. Recycling was roughly 10% of supply. | USGS MCS 2026, Cobalt; Cobalt Institute 2025 |
| Inventory and stock levels | LME US warehouse 34 t at end-2025; DRC quota includes 9,600 t a year for national strategic reserves | Large stocks sit with Chinese refiners and traders and in China's state reserve (not published). US industry stocks rose sharply in 2025 after the DRC export ban. A US plan to buy 7,480 t over five years for the National Defense Stockpile was cancelled. | USGS MCS 2026 |
| Capacity utilisation | not published; DRC export quota of up to 96,600 t a year (2026-27), about 42% of 2025 DRC mine output | Since the February 2025 export ban and October 2025 quotas, DRC mines either stockpile hydroxide or cut cobalt recovery. Chinese refineries therefore run below capacity on DRC feed and lean on Indonesian MHP. | USGS MCS 2026 |
| Geographic and producer concentration | DRC 74.5%; top-3 (DRC, Indonesia, Russia) 89.2%; HHI 5,706; top-5 companies about 66% of mine output | CMOC (117.5 kt), Glencore (36.1 kt), ERG (19 kt), Huayou's Indonesian plants (18.4 kt) and Lygend (12.7 kt) mined about 204 kt of 310 kt in 2025. | World Mining Data 2024; company reports and Cobalt Institute 2025 |
| Supply elasticity | very low: about 85% companionality with copper and nickel | Supply follows copper and nickel investment, so cobalt gluts and shortages last until host-metal plans change or the DRC intervenes. | Nassar et al. 2015; USGS MCS 2026 |
| Project pipeline and CapEx | growth from Indonesian HPAL and DRC copper expansions; quotas now cap DRC exports | Indonesian HPAL plants (Huafei, Huayue, Obi, Halmahera Persada Lygend) produced over 30 kt in 2025 and keep adding lines. CMOC's Kisanfu and TFM expansions lift DRC capacity. | Cobalt Institute 2025 and H1 2026; USGS MCS 2026 |
| Logistics and export flows | cobalt metal and products (HS 8105) imports $5.2 billion in 2024; China 61.4% | DRC hydroxide travels about 2,000-3,000 km by truck to Durban, Dar es Salaam or Walvis Bay (indicative), with the Lobito rail corridor being rebuilt. Indonesian MHP ships to China. Border delays at Kasumbalesa are a known bottleneck. | UN Comtrade 2024 (HS 8105); route distances indicative |
Material characteristics Metal / hard commodity
Cobalt stabilises layered cathodes in lithium-ion batteries and keeps its strength at high temperature, which makes it vital in jet-engine superalloys and cutting-tool hard metals. It is strongly magnetic and keeps magnetism to the highest temperature of any element. Buyers specify cobalt by chemical form and purity: metal cathode, sulphate for batteries or tetroxide for phone cells.
| Property | Value / specification | Why it matters | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Purity (metal) | LME cobalt: at least 99.8% Co | Sets deliverability and premiums for alloy and superalloy use | LME cobalt contract specification |
| Battery sulphate grade | cobalt sulphate heptahydrate about 20.5-21% Co, low Ni, Fe, Cu | Precursor makers need consistent battery grade | Industry specification (indicative) |
| Hydroxide grade | intermediate typically 20-40% Co, priced as a percentage payable of the metal price (indicative) | Sets value of DRC exports | Fastmarkets (indicative) |
| High-temperature strength | retains strength and creep resistance above 1,000 C in Co and Ni superalloys | Jet engines and gas turbines | Metals handbooks (indicative) |
| Magnetism | ferromagnetic; Curie temperature about 1,121 C, the highest of any element | SmCo and AlNiCo magnets for high-temperature use | CRC Handbook |
| Density and melting point | 8.9 g/cm3; melts at 1,495 C | Binder in tungsten carbide hard metals | CRC Handbook |