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launches $500m cobalt tender to bolster US supply security","pentagon-launches-500m-cobalt-tender-to-bolster-us-supply-security","article/pentagon-launches-500m-cobalt-tender-to-bolster-us-supply-security",{"_uid":557,"date":558,"tags":559,"editor":569,"content":579,"excerpt":683,"featured":51,"reporter":684,"_editable":688,"component":689,"seo_title":553,"categories":690,"visibility":699,"author_company":49,"featured_image":700,"seo_description":683,"author_full_name":49,"author_job_title":49,"formattedDate":704,"formattedArticleDate":705},"0015fa2d-2b3c-45c6-b9d8-317970b749f1","2025-08-22 00:00",[560,563,566],{"slug":561,"name":562},"department-of-defense","Department of Defense",{"slug":564,"name":565},"usa","USA",{"slug":567,"name":568},"policy","Policy",[570],{"slug":571,"name":572,"content":573},"matthew-bird","Matthew Bird",{"job_title":574,"image":575,"bio":577,"linkedin":578},"Senior Editor - Supply Chains & Data Visualisation",{"filename":576},"https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/512x512/14738033ec/matthew-bird.jpeg","Matthew writes, edits and produces content for Benchmark Intelligence and Benchmark Source across the whole mine to grid supply chain. He also acts as a liaison to the press. He has a PhD in electrochemistry from the University of Nottingham.","https://www.linkedin.com/in/birdmatthew/",{"type":580,"content":581},"doc",[582,589,604,609,621,626,637,642,649,654,667,672],{"type":583,"attrs":584,"content":585},"paragraph",{"textAlign":49},[586],{"text":587,"type":588},"The US Department of Defense (DoD) is tendering for up to $500 million of cobalt metal (min 99.8%) utilised in critical aerospace and defence components for its strategic stockpiles, the latest move by the US government to bolster critical mineral supply security and reduce strategic dependencies on China.","text",{"type":583,"attrs":590,"content":591},{"textAlign":49},[592,594,602],{"text":593,"type":588},"According to the tender documents released this week, the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) will seek to procure up to 7,480 tonnes of cobalt metal – valued at least $250m at today’s prices (as per the ",{"text":595,"type":588,"marks":596},"Benchmark Cobalt Price Assessment",[597],{"type":598,"attrs":599},"link",{"href":600,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":601},"https://www.benchmarkminerals.com/cobalt/data-reports/price-assessments","url",{"text":603,"type":588},") – for the National Defense Stockpile (NDS) over the next five years, the first time such a purchase has been conducted since 1990. ",{"type":583,"attrs":605,"content":606},{"textAlign":49},[607],{"text":608,"type":588},"The tender is limited to just three producers: Vale’s Port Colborne and Long Harbour (cobalt rounds) operations in Canada, Sumitomo Metal Mining (cut cathodes) in Japan, and Glencore’s Nikkelverk (cut cathodes) refinery in Norway. Purchases will be exempt from tariffs due to the strategic and critical material designation. Crucially, Chinese cobalt refiners, such as Jinchuan, are excluded from the tender.",{"type":610,"attrs":611},"blok",{"id":612,"body":613},"e251cc65-d698-449f-b5fc-30e6a18b4eda",[614],{"id":615,"_uid":616,"type":617,"_editable":618,"component":619,"fixed_height":620,"use_fixed_height":50,"fixed_height_mobile":620,"fixed_height_tablet":620},"24795506","i-0437887d-8117-4ea2-a688-6f4c21ba35aa","visualisation","\u003C!--#storyblok#{\"name\": \"ContentFlourish\", \"space\": \"\", \"uid\": \"i-0437887d-8117-4ea2-a688-6f4c21ba35aa\", \"id\": \"\"}-->","ContentFlourish","",{"type":583,"attrs":622,"content":623},{"textAlign":49},[624],{"text":625,"type":588},"Cobalt-containing alloys are essential for producing superalloys, used in jet engines, precision-guided missiles, submarines, and other military applications. These superalloys maintain their mechanical strength and integrity close to their melting points, making them ideal for high-temperature applications. ",{"type":583,"attrs":627,"content":628},{"textAlign":49},[629,631],{"text":630,"type":588},"Read Benchmark’s Special Issue ",{"text":632,"type":588,"marks":633},"Defence: The new driver for critical raw materials",[634],{"type":598,"attrs":635},{"href":636,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":601},"https://source.benchmarkminerals.com/publications/special-issues/1345874",{"type":583,"attrs":638,"content":639},{"textAlign":49},[640],{"text":641,"type":588},"Benchmark estimates that the tender could account for up to 17% of the selected companies’ combined annual alloy-grade cobalt output, sending a supportive signal for cobalt metal prices over the coming years. Benchmark analysis of trade data suggests that cobalt demand from the US aerospace sector runs at around 4-5ktpa, and that stockpiling would be equivalent to 30% of this demand alone in 2027.",{"type":643,"attrs":644,"content":646},"heading",{"level":645,"textAlign":49},4,[647],{"text":648,"type":588},"US government steps up market interventions",{"type":583,"attrs":650,"content":651},{"textAlign":49},[652],{"text":653,"type":588},"China’s decision in April to restrict exports of rare earth elements vital to the US defence industry has highlighted US strategic vulnerabilities in critical mineral supply chains, and has accelerated the Pentagon’s intervention in these markets. ",{"type":583,"attrs":655,"content":656},{"textAlign":49},[657,659,665],{"text":658,"type":588},"It is widely considered that Western governments possess two key tools in their arsenal to support project economics and bolster critical mineral supply security: minimum price floors and strategic stockpiling. In July, the ",{"text":660,"type":588,"marks":661},"DoD inked a multibillion-dollar partnership with MP Materials (MP) to develop a domestic mine-to-magnet supply chain",[662],{"type":598,"attrs":663},{"href":664,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":601},"https://source.benchmarkminerals.com/article/pentagon-invests-in-mp-materials-in-bid-to-break-chinas-rare-earths-dominance",{"text":666,"type":588},", which included a contractual price floor to support the project’s economics in the face of Chinese competition. ",{"type":583,"attrs":668,"content":669},{"textAlign":49},[670],{"text":671,"type":588},"The Pentagon’s cobalt tender is the latest in a string of recent tenders recently published for critical minerals – facilitated through a $2 billion package appropriated by Congress for the DLA – which includes niobium, graphite, and antimony.",{"type":583,"attrs":673,"content":674},{"textAlign":49},[675,677],{"text":676,"type":588},"China has long conducted similar interventions by stockpiling critical minerals through its State Reserve Bureau (SRB), often used as a tool to raise prices and support domestic industry.  In 2024, the ",{"text":678,"type":588,"marks":679},"SRB tendered a reported 15,000 tonnes of cobalt metal from domestic refiners. ",[680],{"type":598,"attrs":681},{"href":682,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":601},"https://source.benchmarkminerals.com/article/rumoured-china-srb-cobalt-purchase-and-potential-market-impact-examined","The US Department of Defense (DoD) is tendering for up to $500 million of cobalt metal (min 99.8%) utilised in critical aerospace and defence components for its strategic stockpiles, the latest move by the US government to bolster critical mineral supply security and reduce strategic dependencies on China. According to the tender documents released this […]",[685],{"slug":571,"name":572,"content":686},{"job_title":574,"image":687,"bio":577,"linkedin":578},{"filename":576},"\u003C!--#storyblok#{\"name\": \"article\", \"space\": \"\", \"uid\": \"0015fa2d-2b3c-45c6-b9d8-317970b749f1\", \"id\": \"\"}-->","article",[691,693,696],{"slug":692,"name":115},"cobalt",{"slug":694,"name":695},"critical-minerals","Critical Minerals",{"slug":697,"name":698},"geopolitics","Geopolitics","private",{"id":49,"alt":620,"name":620,"focus":620,"title":620,"source":620,"filename":701,"copyright":620,"fieldtype":702,"meta_data":703,"is_external_url":51},"https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/6a00b4049a/bm-us-congress.jpg","asset",{"alt":620,"title":620,"source":620,"copyright":620},"Aug 22, 2025","22nd August 2025",[],[],1789748832992]