Market analyst Roskill published a report where it states that China’s increasing control over copper and cobalt resources in the Democratic Republic of the Congo could pose a threat to western market participants.
The threats are related to the security of supply, as increasingly close ties between the two countries could pose problems to those in the West looking to build up self-contained localized battery supply chains.
Back in early January, China announced that it would cancel an estimated $28 million of loans to the DRC, repayment of which were due by the end of 2020, and would provide $17 million in other financial support to help the country overcome the sanitary crisis caused by the covid-19 pandemic.
During a tour of China’s Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, the two countries also signed a MoU on the Belt and Road Initiative cooperation, with the DRC now becoming China’s 45th Belt and Road Initiative partner in Africa.
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