By Helen Reid

JOHANNESBURG, (Reuters) – The Democratic Republic of Congo’s State Cobalt Monopoly intends to buy artisanal cobalt from January. This is as the largest producer of cobalt worldwide, Jean-Dominique Takis, CEO of the company, stated in an interview with the Reuters Next conference.

Cobalt is currently trading for $62,000 per tonne. It is found in many batteries used to power electric cars. As the world strives reduce carbon emissions, its sales are likely to rise.

Entreprise Generale du Cobalt was established by the Congo to purchase, process and market all artisanal cobalt that is produced in their country. This cobalt, which most miners dig manually, can be sold to middlemen, who are not regulated, to trade.

Takis stated that “we foresee being on the market buying, in late January.” EGC plans to purchase 10,000 tonnes cobalt hydroxide by 2022, down from the previous goal of 15,000,000.

EGC launched officially in March but is yet to acquire any cobalt. This was partly due to the dispute surrounding Kasulo, a Kasulo mine located in Lualaba. The company is in discussions with Huayou Cobalt subsidiary CDM to obtain access to the cobalt.

Takis stated that they are currently in talks with all stakeholders about Kasulo, and that they can see that the negotiations are nearing an end.

Takis stated that EGC wants to establish other sites where it can purchase artisanal goods, even though it is certain it will have access to Kasulo.

The EGC needs to still win the support of miners and middlemen.

He said, “When a system will be replaced with another one there is resistance.” “Most people resist because they are uncertain about the outcome.”

Takis claimed that the EGC did not place any restrictions on middlemen being able to continue to trade and pointed out other options for them.

Last week, the Congo announced that it would be launching a fresh push to increase battery production capacity in its country.

Takis explained that although there are some obstacles in battery manufacturing in Congo due to power shortages and other infrastructure issues, they can be overcome.

EGC hopes to acquire 25,000 tonnes per year of artisanal Cobalt in the future.

“There’s a lot of potential. We think that this will be an excellent response to market expectations in the future.”

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