EXCLUSIVE-Congo bans copper and cobalt concentrates exports, official order says

The Democratic Republic of Congo has banned exports of copper and cobalt concentrates to force domestic processing and retain more value from its mineral resources, effective immediately.

The Democratic Republic of Congo has banned exports of copper concentrate and cobalt concentrate as it escalates efforts to force domestic processing and retain more value from ‌its mineral resources, a government order reviewed by Reuters on Thursday shows.

After Reuters reported the ban, benchmark three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange rose by as much as 1.8% to $14,369.50 a metric ton, the highest since January 29 when the metal hit an all-time peak of $14,527.50. Congo is seeking to leverage its position as the world's largest cobalt supplier and a major source of ‌other energy-transition minerals, including copper, to build domestic processing capacity and retain a greater share of the wealth flowing from its mines.

The June 29 order, signed by Mines Minister Louis ‌Kabamba Watum, Foreign Trade Minister Julien Paluku Kahongya and Economy Minister Daniel Mukoko Samba, says "the export of copper and cobalt concentrates is prohibited". The ban takes effect immediately, although one-year export waivers may be granted under strategic circumstances, the order said, without explaining further.

It also introduced a tax regime with a three-month transition period for economically significant mining by-products. In a statement posted on the LSEG platform on Thursday, Ivanhoe Mines said its Kamoa-Kakula copper complex - a joint venture with China's ⁠Zijin Mining ​and the Congolese government - had received multiple exemptions allowing it ⁠to export copper concentrate since production began in 2021.

"Currently, copper concentrate produced by Kamoa-Kakula is smelted at the on-site smelter or at the Lualaba copper smelter, in Kolwezi. In addition, the Kipushi Mine has a derogation in place ⁠allowing the export of the operation's zinc concentrates," the company said. CONGO PUSHES FOR LOCAL PROCESSING

The ban was motivated by "the need to encourage mining operators to market or export commercial mineral products with high added value," ​the order said. Congo has imposed bans on copper and cobalt concentrate exports in 2013, 2019 and 2023, while granting waivers where domestic smelting capacity was insufficient.

The latest order ⁠repeals the 2023 order and its exemptions, and replaces it with a broader framework governing mineral exports and the taxation of economically significant mining by-products. Congo mostly exports copper in the form of refined metal. It exported 696,725 tons of copper ⁠cathodes ​in the first quarter of 2026, compared with 53,926 tons of copper concentrates containing 18,863 tons of copper metal, according to official data.

It also shipped 51,940 tons of cobalt hydroxides containing 17,054 tons of cobalt metal over the same period. Christian-Geraud Neema, a mining analyst at non-profit organisation the China-Global South Project, said the latest ban was unlikely to have a severe impact ⁠on most operators as the bulk of Congo's copper and cobalt is already refined domestically.

He said the most affected could be Kamoa-Kakula as it still exports some concentrate under exemptions. Zijin ⁠did not immediately respond to a request for ⁠comment and neither did the Congolese chamber of mines. The new tax regime covers a wide range of minerals and says the tax on mining by-products applies to trace and ultra-trace minerals recovered during refining using a 55% valuation coefficient, with royalties charged alongside those on the main mineral.