U.S., Europe Becoming Increasingly Worried Over China’s Dominance of the World’s Cobalt Supply Chain

With ties between China and the U.S. and Europe becoming increasingly strained, there’s growing concern in Washington, Brussels, and other European capitals about China’s dominance over the supply for strategically vital metals and minerals, especially cobalt.

Cobalt is widely used in aerospace applications, electronics, and in EV batteries. The fact that Chinese entities own some of the largest mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo and processing facilities in China, is raising Western concerns about Chinese dominance.

The prevailing concern in the U.S. and Europe is a repeat of what happened in 2010 when China cut off supplies of rare earths to Japan for two months over a dispute in the East China Sea.

by Eric Olander

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