Congo Adds Three Months to Cobalt Export Ban to Curb Supply

The Democratic Republic of Congo extended a temporary ban on cobalt exports by three months, according to a statement from a regulatory agency, prolonging its efforts to rein in a glut on the international market.

Congo, which produces about three-quarters of the metal used in electric-vehicle batteries, had imposed a four-month block on shipments that started Feb. 22. In recent years, supply has surged and prices slumped, as China’s CMOC Group Ltd. ramped up output at two large mines in the central African nation.