The Democratic Republic of Congo said it would lift its ban on coltan exports, which it had imposed in a bid to boost the prices of the key mineral used in cutting-edge technology.
Authorities in Kinshasa said the ban would be replaced by annual quotas. The DRC is the world’s biggest producer of coltan, a mineral essential for electronics and EVs.
However, surging production, led principally by Chinese mining companies, had cratered the price to a nine-year low, leading the DRC to impose the restrictions and in turn drawing ire from producers. The case underscores China’s growing clout over Africa’s key mineral resources against a backdrop of increased competition for them from the US, Russia, and the Middle East.
