Battery metals
Cobalt (Co)
Lithium-ion battery cathodes, superalloys for jet engines, hard metals.
Open in the explorer- Atomic number
- 27
- Period · group
- 4 · 9
- Block
- d-block
Why it is critical
Mine supply is dominated by one country and refining by another, mostly as a by-product of copper and nickel.
Who trades cobalt
$6.4 bn of cobalt products crossed borders in 2024: intermediates $4.7 bn · refined metal $780 m · chemicals $775 m · scrap $99 m · ores and concentrates $47 m.
Largest exporters
- 1Dem. Rep. Congo$3.3 bn51%
- 2United States of America$421 m7%
- 3China$304 m5%
- 4Canada$263 m4%
- 5Finland$257 m4%
- 6United Kingdom$203 m3%
- 7Japan$159 m2%
- 8Belgium$155 m2%
Largest importers
- 1China$3.4 bn53%
- 2United States of America$487 m8%
- 3Japan$200 m3%
- 4Belgium$183 m3%
- 5Germany$178 m3%
- 6South Korea$176 m3%
- 7Taiwan$164 m3%
- 8United Kingdom$158 m2%
Trade values in current US dollars (ores, concentrates, intermediates, chemicals and refined metal), not prices. * Includes HS codes that also cover other products. Source: CEPII BACI (HS22), Etalab Open Licence 2.0 — details.