• CMOC limited cobalt revenue losses despite a 36% export drop in 2025 by cutting costs, improving margins, and leveraging higher prices.

• The firm achieved full Copper Mark recertification and an AAA ESG rating, reinforcing its lead in responsible mining amid export constraints.

• A US$1.084 billion expansion at Kisanfu underscores CMOC’s confidence in the DRC and its long-term strategy for copper and cobalt growth.

CMOC Group Limited has so far faced one of its most challenging years in 2025, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The company’s operations at Tenke Fungurume Mining (TFM), a cornerstone of global cobalt supply, were severely tested by a government-imposed export suspension in early 2025.

The policy, designed to stabilize and raise prices and capture greater fiscal value for the state, disrupted global supply chains and triggered extensive stockpiling at mine sites. For most producers, such restrictions would have resulted in significant financial distress. For CMOC, however, the episode became a demonstration of operational resilience and financial adaptability that underlines the firm’s strategic discipline in volatile commodity markets.

Between January and September 2025, CMOC’s cobalt sales volume dropped by 36.08% year-on-year to 51,027 tonnes, despite a modest 3.84% increase in production to 87,974 tonnes. The sales contraction was sharp, yet revenue proved surprisingly stable, falling only 7.79% to 6.183 billion renminbi (approximately US$865 million at the average 2025 exchange rate).

This resilience was driven largely by price dynamics. As global markets adjusted to the Congolese export restrictions, cobalt prices rose steadily from around US$25,000 per metric tonne at the start of the year to between US$35,000 and US$40,000 by mid-year, and roughly US$48,500 by late October. Higher prices offset much of the volume decline, enabling CMOC to maintain robust revenues despite lower shipments.

The company also benefited from a significant decline in operating costs, down 46.95% to 2.259 billion renminbi, reflecting a focus on process optimization, energy efficiency, and currency risk management. The result was a sharp improvement in profitability, with the gross margin on cobalt soaring to 63.46%, up nearly 27 percentage points from the previous year—a rare feat in the cyclical world of base metals.

Sustainability and Strategic Renewal

While production and sales were constrained, CMOC used the lull to consolidate its reputation in sustainability and governance. During the third quarter, its TFM mine underwent a full recertification audit under The Copper Mark, an international assurance framework for responsible copper production. The result placed TFM among the global elite of mining sites: it became the first African operation, and the first copper-cobalt project on the continent, to achieve “fully satisfied” scores across all assessment areas.

The audit covered more than 30 standards, including water management, biodiversity, human rights, and anti-corruption practices. CMOC’s compliance was notable not only for its breadth but also for being achieved during a period of operational uncertainty. The company continued investing in wastewater treatment upgrades, renewable power integration, and community health initiatives, ensuring continuity of environmental and social programmes even amid export constraints.

These actions contributed to CMOC’s first-ever “AAA” ESG rating from Wind, China’s major financial data provider, which ranked it among the top 100 large-cap companies for sustainability performance. The score reflected a 20–30% improvement in key environmental, social, and governance metrics and positioned CMOC as a benchmark for responsible mining practices in sub-Saharan Africa.

The firm’s ESG commitments have strategic significance beyond reputation. With global electric vehicle manufacturers increasingly seeking “clean cobalt,” CMOC’s sustainability credentials could translate into pricing advantages of 5–10%, particularly as supply tightens. The company’s stance also aligns with evolving DRC policy objectives, which aim to combine export regulation with incentives for local value addition.

As of October 2025, CMOC is operating under a new quota system introduced by the Congolese authorities, which replaced the earlier export suspension. The framework limits total industry exports to 18,125 tonnes for the remainder of 2025 and 96,600 tonnes for 2026. Within that structure, CMOC has been allocated 6,500 tonnes for the fourth quarter of 2025 and 31,200 tonnes for next year—about 27% of its 2024 share. To offset these volume limits, analysts estimate cobalt prices would need to average between US$50,000 and US$55,000 per tonne, a range that appears attainable given ongoing annual growth in EV demand of 4–6%.

Even as the quota system constrains short-term cobalt exports, CMOC has doubled down on its long-term commitment to the DRC. In October 2025, the company announced a US$1.084 billion investment in the second phase of its Kisanfu (KFM) project, a bold move that underscores its confidence in the country’s mining potential. The two-year development plan, scheduled for completion in 2027, will expand processing capacity by 7.26 million tonnes of ore annually and add roughly 100,000 tonnes of copper metal to CMOC’s output.

Copper, which has seen sales volumes increase by 10.56% in the first nine months of 2025, provides a valuable counterbalance to cobalt’s volatility. The KFM expansion integrates advanced milling technology, electrified infrastructure, and sustainable water systems—further aligning CMOC’s capital investment with its ESG commitments. The project consolidates the company’s dual strength in copper and cobalt, positioning it to benefit from both metals’ roles in global electrification and to maintain leverage in future policy negotiations with the DRC government.

As global energy transition pressures mount and supply chains seek stability, CMOC’s 2025 trajectory illustrates how strategic discipline, operational efficiency, and credible sustainability can converge to preserve profitability under duress. The company’s experience in the DRC this year demonstrates that mining success in the age of decarbonisation will hinge as much on governance and adaptability as on geology and output.

Idriss Linge