Luoyang Molybdenum Group (CMOC Group) said on Monday it had resumed copper and cobalt exports from its TFM mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Reuters reported. This is the first confirmed export by Luoyang Molybdenum after settling a dispute with the Democratic Republic of Congo in April.
Tenke Fungurume Mining Company (TFM) supplied 10 percent of the world's cobalt in 2021, but stopped exporting in July 2022 after a dispute broke out with Congolese state-owned miner Gecamines over mineral royalties.
The dispute was resolved in April, but at the time neither side said when shipments would resume.
"TFM copper and cobalt products are currently being exported and sold normally as planned," Vincent Zhou, spokesman for CMOC Group, said on Monday. Starting from April 29, TFM inventory resumed exports.
CMOC plans to sell copper and cobalt stocks built up since July last year in line with market demand, rather than seeking quick sales, Zhou said.
Cobalt prices on the Comex exchange have fallen 40 percent since the Congo cobalt mine suspended exports in late July 2022, but are unchanged from late April, when the CMOC and Gecamines said they had reached an agreement on royalties.
"Most of TFM's cobalt products have long-term supply agreements, while the rest will be sold according to global market conditions and are not expected to have a significant impact on prices," Zhou said.
CMOC said its Congo operations produced 254,286 tonnes of copper and 20,286 tonnes of cobalt last year.
"TFM's resumption of copper exports will add to supply, but the incremental increase in supply should not be overstated as inventories have already started selling from April," said Nitesh Shah, analyst at WisdomTree.
Amid the thawing of tensions with Gecamines, CMOC began operations at the KFM mine. The KFM mine, formerly known as Kisanfu, is one of the largest and highest-grade copper-cobalt mines in the world, also located in Congo.
CMOC has conducted trial production at KFM and aims to produce 70,000 to 90,000 tons of copper and 24,000 to 30,000 tons of cobalt this year, Zhou said.
Congo is the world's largest supplier of cobalt. The third largest copper producer after Peru and Chile.
