KINSHASA, Dec 31 (Reuters) - The Democratic Republic of Congo will allow cobalt shipments under quotas set for the last three months of 2025 to take place until the end of March, the country's mining regulator said, as preparations to implement its new quota system are protracted.
Congo accounts for more than 70% of global mined cobalt production that was estimated by analysts at around 280,000 metric tons this year. But a months-long export ban drove cobalt prices sharply higher and squeezed availability of the metal needed for electric vehicles.
A system, launched on October 16, has allocated a quota of 18,125 metric tons for the fourth quarter and will cap annual exports at 96,600 tons from 2026.
Quotas covering October 16 until December 31 "remain executable" until March 31, the regulator, ARECOMS, said in a statement dated Sunday and seen by Reuters on Wednesday.
CMOC 603993.SS and Glencore GLEN.L, the world's two largest cobalt-producing companies, received the largest allocations. CMOC's quota for the fourth quarter is 6,650 tons and Glencore's 3,925 tons.
Reuters reported this month that Glencore would be the first miner to test the system and that Congolese authorities had also begun collecting samples in preparation for CMOC's first cobalt shipment.
Other steps in the process before shipments can go out include loading, customs payments and granting of final authorisation.
In its statement this week, ARECOMS also said it would examine any requests to modify allocated quotas, without specifying if any had been received.
It has never made public any date for when preparations for implementing its quota system would be complete.
(Reporting by Ange Adihe Kasongo; Writing by Robbie Corey-Boulet; editing by Barbara Lewis)
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