DAKAR – Democratic Republic of Congo has established a strategic reserve for cobalt and other critical minerals, the national minerals regulator said on Thursday, strengthening its ability to stockpile unused export quotas and exert more control over global supplies.

Under a decree adopted by the cabinet on April 10, management of the strategic reserve has been handed to the markets regulator ARECOMS, which is now authorised to acquire, hold and market strategic minerals, the agency said in a statement.

Congo is the world's largest producer of cobalt, a critical component of electric vehicle batteries, and accounted for about 70% of global supplies last year.

It imposed a months-long export ban early last year before moving to a quota regime in October, as it grappled with a price slump caused by oversupply.

Congo shipped about 48 800 metric tons of cobalt in the first quarter of this year, compared with roughly 123 000 t in the same period last year, when exports were frontloaded before the four-month freeze on exports.

Under the quota framework, Congo said it would reserve 10% of national cobalt export volumes for strategic use by the state. For 2026, that amounted to 9 600 metric tons.

In March, Congo also warned miners that any export quota volumes that fail to ship within set deadlines would be transferred to the government's strategic quota. Companies that did not export their allocated fourth-quarter 2025 quotas by April 30 and first-quarter 2026 quotas by end-June would lose them to the reserve, the regulator said.

The strategic reserve announced on Thursday will serve as the government's vehicle for managing its quota volumes.

China's CMOC and Glencore, the world's top producers of cobalt, operate in Congo alongside the Eurasian Resources Group, Huayou and Chinese-controlled Sicomines, among other miners.

The strategic reserve gives the state an additional lever to intervene in global cobalt markets, complementing the quota policy aimed at rebalancing prices, ARECOMS said.

"It will allow the Congolese state to intervene in a targeted manner regarding the quantities of strategic mineral substances available in order to maintain the balance of the international market and contribute to strengthening its economic sovereignty."

Congo designated cobalt, coltan and germanium as strategic minerals under a 2018 decree, effectively placing their production and export under enhanced state oversight.