China Molybdenum Company Limited (CMOC), the second-largest niobium producer in the world, announced that it will invest in the KFM project, a copper and cobalt mine in Congo, which was expected to start operation in the first half of 2023. The annual production of copper and cobalt would reach 90,000 tons and 30,000 tons, respectively.

In 2021, CMOC cooperated with China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. (CATL) to develop the KFM project.

With the high development of alternative fuel vehicles, the demands for alternative metals increased accordingly. The supply of cobalt is tight.

According to Cobalt Institute, the cobalt demand will rise to 320,000 tons in the next five years from 2021's 175,000 tons