Cobalt: Movement
The hidden Congolese flows behind the trade gap
What this tab covers How it flows between countries: the largest bilateral trade routes drawn on a world map, 2024 UN Comtrade export and import values with the top exporters and importers by share, plus shipping routes, chokepoints and trade restrictions.Under HS 8105, which covers cobalt mattes, intermediates, unwrought metal and scrap, China took 61.4% of 2024 import value (Comtrade), while the United States (18.8%), China (12.0%) and Canada (11.5%) led exports. Reported imports, at $5.2 billion, were more than twice reported exports of $2.2 billion. That gap suggests large Congolese hydroxide shipments that only importers record. Congo's material moves by road through Zambia to ports in southern and eastern Africa, then to Chinese refiners. Policy now shapes the flow. Congo replaced its 2025 ban with quotas of up to 96,600 tonnes a year for 2026 and 2027. Its 2025 mine output was about 230,000 tonnes.
Main trade routes, 2024
Chart: World map of the largest trade flows
Exporter (size = share of world exports) Importer (share of world imports) Largest bilateral flows (width = value) Shipping chokepoint UN Comtrade 2024, reported exports by the top four exporters of each traded form to their partners (US$). Bubbles: shares of reported world exports and imports for the main traded form. Hover a line or circle for values.