China Pursues Nigeria's Lithium

 Agence France-Presse published on 6 February 2025 an article titled "Nigeria's Lithium Boom: Chinese Buyers, Local Struggles, and a Global Race" by Leslie Fauvel.  

China is the world's largest refiner and consumer of lithium but must import large quantities.  Consequently, most buyers in Nigeria are Chinese.  In order to increase profits in Nigeria, the government wants investors to set up local processing plants.  So far, only Chinese companies are doing this but engaging in questionable mining practices in the process.  

DRC and China Dominate Cobalt Market

 Mining.com posted on 7 February 2022 an article titled "Global Cobalt Production Hits Record High in 2021, Boosted by EV Demand."

In 2021, the Democratic Republic of the Congo supplied more than 70 percent of the world's cobalt mine production.  China was the world's leading producer of refined cobalt and also the leading consumer, with more than 80 percent of its consumption used by the rechargeable battery industry.  

China, Cobalt, the Congo, and Clean Energy

 The New York Times published on 20 November 2021 an in depth story titled "A Power Struggle Over Cobalt Rattles the Clean Energy Revolution" by Dionne Searcey, Michael Forsythe, and Eric Lipton.

More than two-thirds of the world's cobalt production comes from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  Cobalt is a key component of batteries for electric vehicles.  China and the US are competing for control of the market with China winning for the time being.  China's goal is to control the global supply chain from the metals in the ground to the batteries themselves, no matter where they are made.

China, Cobalt, and the Congo

The UK-based corporate watchdog Rights and Accountability in Development (RAID) published a major report in November 2021 titled "The Road to Ruin? Electric Vehicles and Workers' Rights Abuses at DR Congo's Industrial Cobalt Mines." 

This report exposes dire conditions for many Congolese workers in the industrial mines, often characterized by widespread exploitation and labor rights abuses.  While the companies have a variety of ties to nations around the world, 70 percent of the DRC's mining sector is backed by Chinese investment.  

China Makes New Investment in DRC Cobalt and Copper

 Reuters published on 6 August 2021 an article titled "China Moly to Spend $2.5 Bln to Double Copper, Cobalt Output at Congo Mine" by Tom Daly.

China Molybdenum Company will spend $2.5 billion to double production of copper and cobalt at its mine in the DRC, one of the world's largest copper-cobalt deposits.  This underscores the growing importance of the DRC to trade with China. 

Congo's Cobalt Mining: China's Role

 The New Yorker published on 31 May 2021 an extensive article titled "The Dark Side of Congo's Cobalt Rush" by Nicolas Niarchos, who is writing a book on the subject.

The article includes a discussion of the role of China in the DRC's cobalt mining sector.  China is the world's largest consumer of cobalt as it tries to capture the electric car market.  

China, Congo, Cobalt, and Cars

 Mining.com posted on 8 April 2021 an article titled "World's No. 2 Electric Carmaker Goes Nickel, Cobalt Free."

China's BYD is the world's second largest manufacturer of electric vehicles behind Tesla.  China is trying to control the electric vehicle market.  The batteries for electric vehicles rely heavily on cobalt, which China is also trying to control.  Most of the world's cobalt comes from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. 

BYD has announced that it is scrapping nickel, cobalt, manganese technology for its batteries and switching to lithium-iron-phosphate batteries.  If other electric car producers follow BYD's decision, this raises interesting questions for the future of cobalt and the importance that China will continue to attach to the DRC.  

The Congo, Cobalt, and China

Lima Charlie News posted on 4 February 2018 an article titled "Cobalt Mining, China, and the Fight for Congo's Minerals" by Lima Charlie.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) holds half the world's cobalt reserves, a key component of rechargeable lithium-ion batteries that power iPhones and electric cars. China is a major importer of DRC cobalt as it tries to become the world's leader in electric car production. The DRC has proposed to raise taxes five fold on the metal in order to increase revenue. Chinese and other importers of cobalt are protesting vigorously.

China, Cobalt, Cars and the Congo

Bloomberg published on 17 October 2017 an article titled "Electric Car Makers Have an Africa Problem" by Leonid Bershidsky.

China is making a major push to produce electric powered vehicles. The batteries for these vehicles require cobalt. The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has almost half of the world's reserves of cobalt and more than half of mined cobalt today. Chinese state-owned companies mine much of the DRC's cobalt. The DRC uses the profits from cobalt to pay off huge Chinese loans. The DRC wants to see the price of cobalt rise and wants China to refine more cobalt inside the DRC so that it can pay down faster the loans to China. China wants to maximize the importation of concentrate ore and to limit price increases so that batteries for electric vehicles are competitive. This situation poses a dilemma.