– KINSHASA,
The Democratic Republic of the Congo has banned the exports of copper and cobalt concentrates, according to a government order dated June 29. The directive signed by Minister of Mines Louis Kabamba Watum, Minister of Foreign Trade Julien Paluku Kahongya, and Minister of Economy Daniel Mukoko Samba explicitly prohibits the shipment of both copper and cobalt concentrates. The measure is part of the country's efforts to foster domestic processing and retain more economic value from its mineral wealth.
The ban takes effect immediately. The Minister of Mines may grant exceptional, one-year export authorizations in cases deemed strategic. Additionally, the order establishes a new fiscal framework for economically significant mining by-products, including a three-month transition period during which operators must declare such by-products in their export documentation.
Congo is the world's leading producer of cobalt and the second-largest supplier of copper. Leading companies in the sector include China's CMOC, Glencore, Huayou Cobalt, Zijin Mining, Ivanhoe Mines, and Eurasian Resources Group. The policy aims to incentivize mining companies to market and export higher-value processed mineral products rather than unrefined concentrates.
This new order supersedes a previous 2023 regulation along with its exemptions and introduces a broader set of rules covering mineral exports and the taxation of mining by-products. Similar restrictions on concentrate exports were implemented in 2013, 2019, and 2023, often accompanied by temporary authorizations when local processing capacity was limited. Most of the Congo's copper already leaves the country in refined form, primarily as cathodes.
Official figures for the first quarter of 2026 show exports of 696,725 tons of copper cathodes, compared to 53,926 tons of copper concentrates containing 18,863 tons of copper metal. During the same period, the country exported 51,940 tons of cobalt hydroxides containing 17,054 tons of cobalt metal. These new measures reinforce the government's ongoing effort to expand local mineral processing and increase revenue from the mining industry.