Glencore to Double Cobalt Output on Electric Vehicle Demand

  • Swiss trader could control about 40% of world market by 2019
  • Glencore in discussions with Apple, Tesla and VW, CEO says
A mine worker displays a handful of cobalt metal nuggets awaiting shipping at the Nchanga copper mine, operated by Konkola Copper Mines Plc, in Chingola, Zambia, on Thursday, March 17, 2016. Konkola Copper Mines is a unit of Vedanta Resources Plc, the mining company founded by Indian billionaire Anil Agarwal.Photographer: Waldo Swiegers
Lock
This article is for subscribers only.

Glencore Plc will double its production of cobalt in the next two years, tightening its grip on the market for the key battery component of electric vehicles.

The Swiss commodity giant’s Toronto-listed Katanga Mining Ltd. in the Democratic Republic of Congo will produce as much as 34,000 tons in 2019, Katanga saidBloomberg Terminal Monday. That compares with the 20,000 tons-a-year guidance Chief Executive Officer Ivan Glasenberg gave in August and could give Glencore control of about 40 percent of world supplies, according to current data.