Chinese miner CMOC Group has boosted the production of its main products, including copper and cobalt, in the first quarter of this year.

Thanks to the year-on-year increase in the sales price of all products, the company says its operating indicators were “better than expected, achieving a good start to the year.”

In the January-March period, CMOC produced 171,000 tonnes of copper, up 15.7% year-on-year. Its production of cobalt – a by-product of copper mining – increased the highest by 20.7% reaching 30,414 t, Kallanish learns.

CMOC is the world’s largest cobalt producer, with operations in the DRC – the biggest cobalt-producing country globally. The miner has an 80% stake in the TFM copper-cobalt mine and a 71.25% stake in the Kisanfu mine. Its production boost amid operational ramp-ups comes despite the DRC ban on exports.

In February, the DRC government halted cobalt exports for four months in an attempt to help stabilise the market amid oversupply. Then, CMOC said its operations would continue as normal and that the temporary measure would not result in a “significant” impact on its business performance.

Earlier in the year, the miner said it expects to produce 100,000-120,000 t of cobalt and 600,000-660,000 t of copper in 2025. In the full year 2024, it produced a record 114,165 t of cobalt, up 106% compared to the previous year. The 2024 copper output, meanwhile, was 650,161 t.

The company has not disclosed inventory levels in the DRC.