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supply","trafigura-secures-600-million-syndicated-loan-to-boost-drc-cobalt-supply","article/trafigura-secures-600-million-syndicated-loan-to-boost-drc-cobalt-supply",{"_uid":547,"date":548,"tags":549,"editor":559,"content":569,"excerpt":706,"featured":51,"reporter":707,"_editable":711,"component":712,"seo_title":543,"categories":713,"visibility":719,"author_company":49,"featured_image":720,"seo_description":706,"author_full_name":49,"author_job_title":49,"formattedDate":724,"formattedArticleDate":725},"aed65dfd-f7ba-4ec2-8611-0fee585960d7","2022-11-25 00:00",[550,553,556],{"slug":551,"name":552},"chemaf","Chemaf",{"slug":554,"name":555},"drc","DRC",{"slug":557,"name":558},"trafigura","Trafigura",[560],{"slug":561,"name":562,"content":563},"matthew-bird","Matthew Bird",{"job_title":564,"image":565,"bio":567,"linkedin":568},"Senior Editor - Supply Chains & Data Visualisation",{"filename":566},"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":570,"content":571},"doc",[572,579,584,589,594,599,604,609,616,621,626,631,636,641,646,651,656,665,678,683,688,701],{"type":573,"attrs":574,"content":575},"paragraph",{"textAlign":49},[576],{"text":577,"type":578},"Commodity trader Trafigura secured a $600 million syndicated loan to fund two copper and cobalt mines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as it looks to become a key supplier of metals needed for clean energy technologies.  ","text",{"type":573,"attrs":580,"content":581},{"textAlign":49},[582],{"text":583,"type":578},"The loan arranged by the Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank (TDB) will fund the completion of the Mutoshi mine by next year and expand production at the existing Etoile mine in Lubumbashi, increasing Trafigura’s access to supplies of cobalt. ",{"type":573,"attrs":585,"content":586},{"textAlign":49},[587],{"text":588,"type":578},"The deal would “contribute to an increase in supply of metals which are essential to the energy transition,” Michael Awori, the chief executive of TBD, said.",{"type":573,"attrs":590,"content":591},{"textAlign":49},[592],{"text":593,"type":578},"Trafigura, a large trader of cobalt and copper, has an agreement to sell all of the cobalt and copper produced by the two projects in the DRC, which are being developed by Chemaf, a subsidiary of Shalina Resources. ",{"type":573,"attrs":595,"content":596},{"textAlign":49},[597],{"text":598,"type":578},"Chemaf paused construction at the Mutoshi mine during the Covid-19 outbreak in April 2020. But in January Trafigura agreed to a $600 million financing with Shalina, which has now been refinanced with a number of banks led by TBD.",{"type":573,"attrs":600,"content":601},{"textAlign":49},[602],{"text":603,"type":578},"The DRC is the world’s leading producer of cobalt, set to account for roughly 71% of total mine supply in 2022. Output from the country is expected to increase to more than 198,000 tonnes by 2025, according to Benchmark’s Cobalt Forecast. ",{"type":573,"attrs":605,"content":606},{"textAlign":49},[607],{"text":608,"type":578},"The growth in new supply is set to be driven by new projects such as Mutoshi as well as expansions of existing mines, most notably China Molybdenum’s Tenke Fungurume mine.",{"type":610,"attrs":611,"content":613},"heading",{"level":612,"textAlign":49},4,[614],{"text":615,"type":578},"Cobalt in the DRC",{"type":573,"attrs":617,"content":618},{"textAlign":49},[619],{"text":620,"type":578},"Once completed the Mutoshi mine and its associated processing plant in Kolwezi will have a production capacity of 16,000 tonnes of cobalt hydroxide per year. It will also produce 48,000 tonnes of copper cathode per year, Trafigura said.",{"type":573,"attrs":622,"content":623},{"textAlign":49},[624],{"text":625,"type":578},"The Etoile mine and associated processing plant in Lubumbashi currently produces 6,000 tonnes of cobalt hydroxide a year, according to Benchmark. The new funding will be used to expand the Etoile mine and processing facility. ",{"type":573,"attrs":627,"content":628},{"textAlign":49},[629],{"text":630,"type":578},"Both Mutoshi and Etoile mines are operated by Chemaf Resources, a subsidiary of Shalina.",{"type":573,"attrs":632,"content":633},{"textAlign":49},[634],{"text":635,"type":578},"Combined, the two mines are forecast to produce around eight percent of all DRC cobalt hydroxide production in 2030. This would make them the fourth largest operator in the country. ",{"type":573,"attrs":637,"content":638},{"textAlign":49},[639],{"text":640,"type":578},"China Molybdenum and Glencore are the largest cobalt mine operators in the DRC with 25%, and 20% of the country’s forecast 2030 production, respectively.",{"type":610,"attrs":642,"content":643},{"level":612,"textAlign":49},[644],{"text":645,"type":578},"Cobalt in the rest of the world",{"type":573,"attrs":647,"content":648},{"textAlign":49},[649],{"text":650,"type":578},"While the DRC dominates the cobalt mining industry, it is set to lose market share this decade as production from Indonesia increases. ",{"type":573,"attrs":652,"content":653},{"textAlign":49},[654],{"text":655,"type":578},"By 2030, Benchmark forecasts DRC’s share of the cobalt market will drop to 61% of the global supply and then to 52% by 2040.",{"type":573,"attrs":657,"content":658},{"textAlign":49},[659],{"type":660,"attrs":661},"image",{"id":49,"alt":662,"src":663,"title":49,"source":49,"copyright":49,"meta_data":664},"","https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/26846d74f7/bm-drcs-cobalt-dominance-has-peaked.png",{},{"type":573,"attrs":666,"content":667},{"textAlign":49},[668,676],{"text":669,"type":578,"marks":670},"Mined cobalt production in Indonesia is expected to increase almost ten-fold between 2022 and 2030",[671],{"type":672,"attrs":673},"link",{"href":674,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":675},"https://source.benchmarkminerals.com/article/indonesia-cobalt-supply-to-push-market-into-surplus-this-decade","url",{"text":677,"type":578},", when it will account for over 18% of global supply.",{"type":573,"attrs":679,"content":680},{"textAlign":49},[681],{"text":682,"type":578},"Australia is the next biggest cobalt-producing country in 2030, though it will have less than a quarter of the production of Indonesia.",{"type":610,"attrs":684,"content":685},{"level":612,"textAlign":49},[686],{"text":687,"type":578},"Cobalt’s ESG concerns",{"type":573,"attrs":689,"content":690},{"textAlign":49},[691,693,699],{"text":692,"type":578},"Cobalt is mined in the DRC both by industrial operations but also by hand by ",{"text":694,"type":578,"marks":695},"individual miners, including children",[696],{"type":672,"attrs":697},{"href":698,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":675},"https://source.benchmarkminerals.com/article/drc-needs-to-improve-esg-of-cobalt-to-become-key-to-climate-crisis",{"text":700,"type":578},". ",{"type":573,"attrs":702,"content":703},{"textAlign":49},[704],{"text":705,"type":578},"As part of the financing arrangement Trafigura said there will be an “enhancement of ESG compliance and responsible sourcing awareness and implementation” in line with IFC Performance Standards and OECD Guidelines.","Commodity trader Trafigura secured a $600 million syndicated loan to fund two copper and cobalt mines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as it looks to become a key supplier of metals needed for clean energy technologies. The loan arranged by the Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank (TDB) will fund the […]",[708],{"slug":561,"name":562,"content":709},{"job_title":564,"image":710,"bio":567,"linkedin":568},{"filename":566},"\u003C!--#storyblok#{\"name\": \"article\", \"space\": \"\", \"uid\": \"aed65dfd-f7ba-4ec2-8611-0fee585960d7\", \"id\": \"\"}-->","article",[714,716],{"slug":715,"name":115},"cobalt",{"slug":717,"name":718},"critical-minerals","Critical Minerals","private",{"id":49,"alt":662,"name":662,"focus":662,"title":662,"source":662,"filename":721,"copyright":662,"fieldtype":722,"meta_data":723,"is_external_url":51},"https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/b79c17c8ea/bm-2022-trafigura-etoile-processing-plant.jpg","asset",{"alt":662,"title":662,"source":662,"copyright":662},"Nov 25, 2022","25th November 2022",[],[],1780670080178]