Could Tenke cobalt stockpile hit market?
Bloomberg reports that CMOC’s Tenke Fungurume mine has continued to produce even though exports have been suspended because of the ongoing disagreement between Gecamines and CMOC. This means that it has built up a stash of c.12.5Kt of cobalt (and 120Kt of copper) which will be freed up once an agreement is reached. Given that Tenke accounts for about 15% of global supply and cobalt has continued in oversupply (and prices in freefall) even though Tenke exports have been restricted, this is potentially a sizeable problem for the market. The freeing up of the stockpile could add practically one month...
Topics
China
Cobalt
Prices
Tenke Fungurume
