Cobalt — Supply structure report
Production and refining by country, the processing chokepoint, export-control status, and which producers can actually sell to a third party rather than consuming their own feed.
At a glance
- Largest producer
- Democratic Republic of the Congo 73%
- USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026
- Top 3 producers
- 90%
- share of world output
- Concentration (HHI)
- 5,562
- highly concentrated
- Producing countries
- 13
- 1 supply half
- Export measures
- 2
- USGS compilation, Jan 2026
- US import reliance
- 79%
- net, 2025 (USGS)
Key findings
What the evidence shows
World production and the largest producer
The USGS puts world production at 310,000 metric tons. Democratic Republic of the Congo is the largest producer with 73% of the total.
How concentrated supply is
The Herfindahl-Hirschman index over country shares is 5,562 (highly concentrated). The top three producers hold 90%; 1 country supplies half.
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Create a free accountThe rest is in the full report
5 sections with numbered sources: Supply structure: mine production by country; Processing and refining: where the value and the leverage sit; Merchant availability: which producers can sell to a third party and more.
Full analysis and cited sources
Supply structure: mine production by country
Democratic Republic of the Congo is the largest producer of cobalt, at 73.1 percent of the published world total in 2025[1]. It is followed by Indonesia at 14.0 percent, Russia at 2.4 percent and Madagascar at 1.2 percent. The USGS puts world production at 310,000 metric tons; the sum of the country figures is 314,600 metric tons, the difference being rounding in the published total.[1] Reserves are held principally by Democratic Republic of the Congo (6,000,000 metric tons), Australia (1,700,000 metric tons), Russia (800,000 metric tons)[1].
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Model cargo financing, letters of credit and landed cost.
Primary overland rail, transshipment port pairs, and ocean freight routing.
What’s in the full report
5 sections · approximately 601 more words
- 01Supply structure: mine production by country
- 02Processing and refining: where the value and the leverage sit
- 03Merchant availability: which producers can sell to a third party
- 04Export controls and trade measures in force
- 05What would have to change for the structure to change
Executive Briefing & Strategic FAQ
Essential empirical supply-chain and geopolitical questions for market participants and intelligence analysts.
Which countries dominate global mining and refining for Cobalt?▼
Global Cobalt production is characterized by high geographical concentration in both raw extraction and chemical processing, as documented in MiningBridge's empirical supply-chain models.
What are the critical supply chain bottlenecks and geopolitical risks for Cobalt?▼
Key geopolitical and operational risks include export licensing constraints, high chemical conversion barriers, and long lead times for developing non-concentrated commercial refining capacity.
What are the primary commercial uses for Cobalt, and can it be substituted?▼
Cobalt is essential across energy transition, advanced electronics, and defense systems. While direct substitutes exist in select low-performance applications, replacing Cobalt in mission-critical hardware incurs significant metallurgical and cost trade-offs.