Cobalt Hydroxide & Cobalt Sulphate (Battery Cobalt Intermediates)

Cobalt hydroxide intermediate and cobalt sulphate, bought on cobalt content and a responsible-sourcing file

Cobalt hydroxide is the intermediate that copper-cobalt mines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zambia precipitate from their leach circuits, and it is sold on the cobalt it contains: the buyer pays a percentage of the cobalt metal price, the payable, on the assayed cobalt in each dry tonne, and Fastmarkets assesses cobalt hydroxide 30% Co minimum CIF China. Refiners dissolve it into cobalt sulphate, the crystal that precursor plants mix with nickel and manganese sulphate for NMC cathodes. Cobalt hydroxide is declared under HS 2822.00 with cobalt oxides, and cobalt sulphate under HS 2833.29 with other sulphates. UN Comtrade 2024 export declarations under HS 2822.00 total USD 416 million from 46 reporters, led by Namibia at USD 119 million, China at USD 87 million, Zambia at USD 80 million and Belgium at USD 75 million; the DRC, the largest producer, filed no 2024 declaration in the dataset, so the table understates the trade. The DRC rules decide what can ship: the government suspended cobalt exports from February 2025, replaced the suspension from October 2025 with export quotas allocated by its strategic minerals regulator ARECOMS, set at 87,000 MT of contained cobalt for 2026 plus a 9,600 MT strategic quota and adjustable each quarter, and by an order of 29 June 2026 banned exports of copper and cobalt concentrates.

The buyer is a cobalt refiner, a sulphate or precursor plant, or a trader with refinery offtake, and the offer is a payable percentage or a price per pound of contained cobalt for a stated grade, moisture and impurity sheet. CBIL is a commodity brokerage company and brokers cobalt hydroxide and cobalt sulphate only with a due-diligence file built to the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas: the supplier's supply chain policy aligned with Annex II of the Guidance, identification of mine sites and transport routes, the ARECOMS quota allocation and export documents for DRC material, and a risk assessment against the Annex II risks, including the worst forms of child labour, serious human rights abuses, direct or indirect support to non-state armed groups, bribery and money laundering. Material from artisanal and small-scale mining carries higher risk and is not worked without site-level traceability. Buyers also check the LME's responsible sourcing requirements, which treat all cobalt brands as higher-focus, and producers reporting under the Cobalt Institute's Cobalt Industry Responsible Assessment Framework (CIRAF). Hydroxide moves in 1 MT bags in 20-ft containers trucked from Central African mines to port; sulphate moves bagged in containers from refineries, on FCA, FOB, CFR and CIF terms. Send the product, cobalt grade, moisture, tonnage and discharge port, and the enquiry is screened and worked against it.

Excluded origins are not offered, including product re-exported, blended or re-processed through a third country. Every lot moves with a certificate of origin naming the producing plant, mine or grower country, and nothing is quoted before the seller and loading point are known.