Congo bans copper and cobalt concentrates exports, official order says

By Ange Adihe Kasongo and Maxwell Akalaare Adombila

The Democratic Republic of Congo has banned exports ‌of copper concentrate and cobalt concentrate as it escalates efforts to force domestic processing and retain more value from its mineral resources, a government order reviewed by Reuters on Thursday shows.

After Reuters reported the ban, benchmark three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange rose by as much as 1.8% to $14,369.50 a metric ton, the highest since January ​29 when the metal hit an all-time peak of $14,527.50.