(Bloomberg) -- Glencore Plc, the world’s second-biggest cobalt miner, said oversupply in the market may stretch into 2026 as new output overwhelms demand.
“Best guess is 18 to 24 months to work through the surplus,” Chief Executive Officer Gary Nagle told reporters on Wednesday. The firm has stopped stockpiling and started to sell some of its inventory, he said.
Prices for the metal, used in electric-vehicle batteries and aerospace alloys, have plunged about 70% from a peak two years ago. China’s CMOC Group Ltd., which recently eclipsed Glencore as the top producer, has played a key role in the glut by ramping up production quicker than traders anticipated and signaled in its own guidance.
Glencore owns two large copper-cobalt projects in the Democratic Republic of Congo. When the market returns to balance, the firm may increase production from its Mutanda asset in the African nation, Nagle said.
The Swiss company has also responded to the weak prices by cutting output at Mutanda, where cobalt is extracted as a byproduct of copper.
©2024 Bloomberg L.P.
