Hyperdrive
Congo Launches State Cobalt Company With Trafigura Financing
- State company has monopoly rights to Congo’s hand-mined cobalt
- Trafigura has five-year deal to purchase cobalt hydroxide
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A Democratic Republic of Congo state-owned company with monopoly rights to the purchase and sale of the country’s hand-mined cobalt announced the start of operations Wednesday.
Entreprise Generale du Cobalt will sell cobalt hydroxide under a five-year deal with trading house Trafigura Group, which also will provide financing for the Congolese company. Congo is the world’s biggest producer of cobalt, a mineral used in the lithium-ion batteries that power electric vehicles.