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DRC dominance threatens US de-risking efforts","chinas-drc-dominance-threatens-us-de-risking-efforts","article/chinas-drc-dominance-threatens-us-de-risking-efforts",{"_uid":557,"date":558,"tags":559,"editor":560,"content":570,"excerpt":713,"featured":51,"reporter":714,"_editable":718,"component":719,"seo_title":553,"categories":720,"visibility":726,"author_company":49,"featured_image":727,"seo_description":713,"author_full_name":49,"author_job_title":49,"formattedDate":731,"formattedArticleDate":732},"6b386143-f274-4099-9331-e0b11b588e7a","2024-10-18 00:00",[],[561],{"slug":562,"name":563,"content":564},"didi-bostock","Didi Bostock",{"job_title":565,"image":566,"bio":568,"linkedin":569},"Editor - Energy Transition & Economics",{"filename":567},"https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/512x512/2c5ca5c1a3/didi-bostock.jpeg","Didi is the Energy Transition & Economics Editor at Benchmark, covering a broad range of markets across the energy transition. His remit spans from downstream sectors such as BESS and EVs, through to midstream such as new technologies and battery production, to upstream critical minerals mining. He also leads on financial analysis across these supply chains, alongside in-depth policy analysis.\n","https://www.linkedin.com/in/didi-bostock-656342198/",{"type":571,"content":572},"doc",[573,580,602,614,619,628,635,640,645,650,662,667,672,691,696,708],{"type":574,"attrs":575,"content":576},"paragraph",{"textAlign":49},[577],{"text":578,"type":579},"Two thirds of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) cobalt supply is classified as at ‘high risk’ of falling foul of the Foreign Entity of Concern (FEOC) clause under the US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), Benchmark analysis shows.","text",{"type":574,"attrs":581,"content":582},{"textAlign":49},[583,585,593,595,600],{"text":584,"type":579},"Through the IRA and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BLI), ",{"text":586,"type":579,"marks":587},"the US is undergoing a wide-ranging effort to de-risk its critical",[588],{"type":589,"attrs":590},"link",{"href":591,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":592},"https://www.benchmarkminerals.com/","url",{"text":594,"type":579}," mineral supply chains from China. This has included",{"text":596,"type":579,"marks":597}," significant federal funding to support domestic projects",[598],{"type":589,"attrs":599},{"href":591,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":592},{"text":601,"type":579},", as well as incentives to ‘onshore’/‘friendshore’ supply chains in the US and other free trade agreement (FTA) economies.",{"type":574,"attrs":603,"content":604},{"textAlign":49},[605,607,612],{"text":606,"type":579},"However, Benchmark analysis shows de-risking cobalt supply will prove challenging due to ",{"text":608,"type":579,"marks":609},"high concentration of supply in the DRC (a non-FTA country) and within the hands of Chinese firms",[610],{"type":589,"attrs":611},{"href":591,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":592},{"text":613,"type":579},", posing significant economic and geopolitical risks for the US, including the potential for trade restrictions.",{"type":574,"attrs":615,"content":616},{"textAlign":49},[617],{"text":618,"type":579},"“The majority of DRC volumes fall under the ‘high risk’ category, owing to high levels of Chinese ownership in assets in the country, and therefore are likely to be ineligible for consumer tax credits under the IRA,” said Will Talbot, research manager at Benchmark. ",{"type":574,"attrs":620,"content":621},{"textAlign":49},[622],{"type":623,"attrs":624},"image",{"id":49,"alt":625,"src":626,"title":49,"source":49,"copyright":49,"meta_data":627},"","https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXdRg795SMrTOy7kmjU1nyxuCK7rou7rK5njmWq26VKuNc_St73o5X_aF87Q9Ij7DCqmC7pmxeYw0SQItTISd0KxTRKy90vnse5gC66Mr4Q7om2U_0yMkjJ3qzZp50d5c_NLwUFz3w8o_ijSYqd4_Fck5EvE?key=B8zbvGa6Z0AfIR5gb4Yi8Q",{},{"type":629,"attrs":630,"content":632},"heading",{"level":631,"textAlign":49},4,[633],{"text":634,"type":579},"Cobalt’s FEOC status ",{"type":574,"attrs":636,"content":637},{"textAlign":49},[638],{"text":639,"type":579},"Benchmark has assessed the FEOC risk profile for mines and refineries across critical mineral markets, evaluating the likelihood of triggering this risk for each battery raw material asset worldwide. ",{"type":574,"attrs":641,"content":642},{"textAlign":49},[643],{"text":644,"type":579},"“Over time, we do expect the share of material coming from high risk or FEOC countries will decline marginally as more ex-China supply comes online,” said Talbot. “But we forecast it to remain significant.”",{"type":629,"attrs":646,"content":647},{"level":631,"textAlign":49},[648],{"text":649,"type":579},"US officials accuse CMOC of predatory actions",{"type":574,"attrs":651,"content":652},{"textAlign":49},[653,655,660],{"text":654,"type":579},"In particular, US officials have grown increasingly concerned over CMOC’s outsized role in the cobalt supply chain; levelling accusations that the company has conducted predatory actions to flood the market with supply, ",{"text":656,"type":579,"marks":657},"crashing prices",[658],{"type":589,"attrs":659},{"href":591,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":592},{"text":661,"type":579}," and stifling investment in new greenfield capacity worldwide.",{"type":574,"attrs":663,"content":664},{"textAlign":49},[665],{"text":666,"type":579},"“CMOC produced over 50,000 tonnes of cobalt in the first half of the year and sales figures indicate that the company is still stockpiling material,” said Talbot. “Stock levels in the market are now significant, with low prices and short-term oversupply stifiling investment in greenfield cobalt projects.”",{"type":574,"attrs":668,"content":669},{"textAlign":49},[670],{"text":671,"type":579},"Cobalt fundamentals have largely fallen to the wayside, as CMOC has prioritised the ramp up of copper supply to feed China’s growing domestic smelting capacity, amid high prices and a bullish demand outlook for the red metal.",{"type":574,"attrs":673,"content":674},{"textAlign":49},[675,677,682,684,689],{"text":676,"type":579},"To prevent ",{"text":678,"type":579,"marks":679},"low-price’s derailing de-risking efforts",[680],{"type":589,"attrs":681},{"href":591,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":592},{"text":683,"type":579},", US officials are said to be examining more robust measures to support the endeavour, i",{"text":685,"type":579,"marks":686},"ncluding price support thresholds for domestic projects",[687],{"type":589,"attrs":688},{"href":591,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":592},{"text":690,"type":579}," and critical mineral stockpiling.",{"type":629,"attrs":692,"content":693},{"level":631,"textAlign":49},[694],{"text":695,"type":579},"How is the US attempting to extend its DRC influence? ",{"type":574,"attrs":697,"content":698},{"textAlign":49},[699,701,706],{"text":700,"type":579},"The US is also attempting to regain lost ground in the ",{"text":702,"type":579,"marks":703},"Central African Copperbelt through the Lobito Corridor Railway",[704],{"type":589,"attrs":705},{"href":591,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":592},{"text":707,"type":579},", a project designed to facilitate copper-cobalt exports from the DRC into western markets and spur value-added investment across the region. ",{"type":574,"attrs":709,"content":710},{"textAlign":49},[711],{"text":712,"type":579},"In recent months, US officials have also manoeuvred to block additional DRC copper-cobalt assets falling into the hands of Chinese firms.","Two thirds of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) cobalt supply is classified as at ‘high risk’ of falling foul of the Foreign Entity of Concern (FEOC) clause under the US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), Benchmark analysis shows. Through the IRA and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BLI), the US is undergoing a wide-ranging effort to de-risk its […]",[715],{"slug":562,"name":563,"content":716},{"job_title":565,"image":717,"bio":568,"linkedin":569},{"filename":567},"\u003C!--#storyblok#{\"name\": \"article\", \"space\": \"\", \"uid\": \"6b386143-f274-4099-9331-e0b11b588e7a\", \"id\": \"\"}-->","article",[721,723],{"slug":722,"name":115},"cobalt",{"slug":724,"name":725},"critical-minerals","Critical Minerals","private",{"id":49,"alt":625,"name":625,"focus":625,"title":625,"source":625,"filename":728,"copyright":625,"fieldtype":729,"meta_data":730,"is_external_url":51},"https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/8d36ef7062/bm-exports.jpg","asset",{"alt":625,"title":625,"source":625,"copyright":625},"Oct 18, 2024","18th October 2024",[],[],1792688570556]