Cobalt Metal Chain™
· ₹4,899.35/kg today
From mine to market: how Cobalt moves through the global economy.
Cobalt Metal Chain
Detailed supply-chain mapping is currently being developed for Cobalt. In the meantime, see the metal profile and reserves & production data already available.
Mined Almost Entirely Outside This Site's Tracked Countries
The Democratic Republic of Congo supplies the large majority of the world's mined cobalt — none of this site's 22 tracked countries come close to that scale, though Australia and Canada both produce modest volumes, often as a byproduct of nickel mining.
Refining Is a Different Map Than Mining
Even without mining much cobalt itself, China dominates the refining step that turns raw cobalt into the battery-grade material EV and electronics makers actually need — a processing chokepoint that matters just as much as who controls the mines.
The Ethics of Where It Comes From
A meaningful share of DRC cobalt has historically come from informal, artisanal small-scale mining rather than industrial operations, raising documented labour and safety concerns that have pushed battery makers and regulators toward mandatory supply-chain due diligence and traceability requirements — a genuine ESG pressure that increasingly shapes which mines global buyers are willing to source from, not just how much cobalt costs.
Did You Know?
Concerns over artisanal, small-scale mining conditions in cobalt's dominant supply region have pushed battery makers toward traceability requirements and, in some cases, cobalt-reduced battery chemistries entirely — a real supply-chain story shaping the metal's own demand.
Frequently Asked Questions
Country-level production data for Cobalt is not yet available on this page.
The Cobalt price in India today is ₹4,899.35 per kilogram as of August 28, 2026. See the live price and chart.
Metal Chain™ is an analytical framework developed by MetalsCost. Concentration figures and the current-bottleneck comparison are estimates derived from available public data and a documented methodology — they are not investment advice or a guaranteed forecast. See the methodology page for data sources and calculation details.
