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Who buys the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s cobalt? Export destinations 2024

In 2024, the Democratic Republic of the Congo exported $3.3 billion of cobalt (663 thousand tonnes), 51.5% of the world total. China bought 91% of the total, followed by Namibia (4%) and Zambia (2%). The Democratic Republic of the Congo was the world’s largest exporter of cobalt.

Summary

Value
$3.3billion
Tonnes
663thousand tonnes
Share of world total
51.5%
World rank
1st
Routes to the main destinations. Width: value; color: estimated transport mode.SeaAirLand

Destinations

The 11 main destinations in the latest year.

PartnerValue (USD billions)TonnesUSD per tonneShareMode
China3Tonnes: 628,589USD per tonne: $4,80591.4%Sea
Namibia0.14Tonnes: 14,456USD per tonne: $9,8444.3%Sea
Zambia0.07Tonnes: 7,753USD per tonne: $8,6722%Land
South Korea0.03Tonnes: 5,995USD per tonne: $4,6520.84%Sea
Taiwan0.03Tonnes: 1,100USD per tonne: $10,4700.76%Sea
Morocco0.02Tonnes: 4,241USD per tonne: $4,4030.56%Sea
Belgium re-exports< 0.01Tonnes: 994USD per tonne: $4,2630.13%Sea
South Africa< 0.01Tonnes: 34USD per tonne: $7,0070.01%Sea
Brazil< 0.01Tonnes: 29USD per tonne: $4,8570%Sea
Spain< 0.01Tonnes: 0USD per tonne: $120,0000%Air
Turkey< 0.01Tonnes: 0USD per tonne: $10,0000%Sea

Trend

Who it sells to

China has been its main destination since 2001

Value in USD billions. The five largest destinations in 2024.

  • China 3
  • Namibia 0.14
  • Zambia 0.07
  • South Korea 0.03
  • Taiwan 0.03

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
Partner19952024
China< 0.013
Namibia00.14
Zambia00.07
South Korea< 0.010.03
Taiwan00.03

Sources and methodology

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Sources and licenses

Methodology

Goods trade from CEPII BACI (BACI_HS92_V202601), which reconciles what exporters and importers report: countries that stopped reporting (Russia since 2022) appear with their partners’ data. FOB values in current US dollars; tonnes when BACI reports them. The price per tonne is the value of the rows with a weight divided by that weight. The transport mode is our own estimate based on value per kilo and geography. Data up to 2024.

Hong Kong, Singapore, the Netherlands and Belgium re-export goods from other countries: their figures include transit.

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