China’s CMOC Group boosted its cobalt output by more than 170 per cent last year, with surging production at a new mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo helping the company leapfrog Glencore as the world’s top producer of the key battery metal.

Hong Kong-listed CMOC produced 55,526 tonnes of cobalt in 2023, it said in a filing on Thursday. In October, Glencore forecast output of as much as 42,000 tonnes. While investors and traders had been expecting a large increase at CMOC’s massive Kisanfu mine – which came online in the second quarter – the full-year result exceeded the company’s own production guidance by more than 20 per cent.

Soaring output at the US$1.8 billion Kisanfu mine helped trigger a sharp slump in cobalt prices last year, alongside rising production in Indonesia and a rebound in exports from CMOC’s other operation in Congo, Tenke-Fungurume. The market was already in one of its biggest ever surpluses as 2023 began, and the additional output helped drive a 30 per cent slump in prices over the year.

The mismatch between supply and demand became so acute that by midyear Glencore had started to stockpile surplus at its operations in Congo in a bid to bring the market back into balance. Glencore is set to announce its full production results next month.

CMOC’s copper output also jumped by 51 per cent to 419,539 tonnes, establishing it as one of the world’s top producers at a time when many miners are struggling to boost output.

Mainland China is now the world’s largest automotive and EV market, with sales of battery-powered cars accounting for about 60 per cent of the global total.

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Seoul-based consultancy SNE Research said in a report last February that electric cars with a driving range of more than 300 kilometres were sold at about US$30,000, on par with prices of petrol-powered vehicles, which helped EVs gain popularity around the globe.