The Democratic Republic of the Congo: Cobalt and the European Market

The Democratic Republic of the Congo produces around seventy percent of the world's cobalt and roughly half its proven reserves sit within its borders, alongside copper of exceptional grade. Since 2023 the country holds a strategic partnership with the European Union on raw materials value chains, and the Lobito Corridor — the Global Gateway flagship rail link to the Atlantic — is partly operational, with Congolese minerals already moving to the port.

Policy is asserting itself at the same time. After a temporary export suspension in 2025, the 2026 cobalt export quota stands at 96,600 tonnes, divided between a base and a strategic tranche. Quota-controlled supply changes the commercial logic profoundly: when volume is capped, the question shifts from how much you sell to where each tonne earns most. Delivered European sales, contracted directly with European battery and chemical industry, sit at the top of that ladder.

The European framework in brief

The Critical Raw Materials Act entered into force on 23 May 2024 and sets the Union's 2030 benchmarks: ten percent of annual consumption extracted within the Union, forty percent processed, twenty-five percent from recycled sources, and a ceiling of sixty-five percent from any single third country per strategic raw material. Strategic Project status reaches beyond the Union's borders, bringing guidance on funding, attention from the financing hub that mobilises EU funds and the European Investment Bank, and greater certainty for off-takers. The Commission names off-take agreements with European downstream industry explicitly as a route to contributing to supply security.

Those agreements are signed by a European counterparty, and that is where a Dutch entity earns its place: as the party that contracts with European industry, reaches European trade finance, and holds the import position with the Article 23 licence that defers import VAT to the periodic VAT return. Our guide to a European entity for critical raw materials sets out the full picture.

What a European entity does for Congolese producers

Cobalt and copper sit outside CBAM, so the European route runs through the commercial and financing channel. A Dutch entity signs off-take agreements with European industry as a European counterparty, reaches trade finance against European receivables, and captures the margin between origin pricing and delivered pricing — margin that matters double under a quota. The EU partnership and the corridor investment both signal a European appetite for Congolese supply contracted on European terms, and traceable, responsibly sourced volumes command the strongest position in that conversation.

Enter with your documentation in order

This origin asks more of the paperwork than any other we serve, and saying so plainly serves everyone. Three layers deserve attention from the first exchange. The EU Conflict Minerals Regulation imposes supply-chain due diligence on tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold, so groups touching those minerals build their OECD-aligned documentation before contracting. Notarial and banking due diligence on Congolese ownership chains runs deep, including screening around politically exposed persons and state participations, and we prepare the file to that standard from the start. And traceability documentation — provenance, chain of custody, responsible sourcing — is what separates volumes that reach European buyers at full value from volumes that reach traders at a discount.

The Netherlands and the DRC handle profit flows through the general Dutch framework; the treaty position and the ownership chain are mapped per structure with a tax specialist before the deed is drafted.

Setting up in the Netherlands

A Dutch BV is incorporated by notarial deed and registered with the Chamber of Commerce, with your group holding the shares and incorporation running remotely by power of attorney. From there the entity takes on the functions the strategy calls for: off-take counterparty, trading arm, joint venture vehicle or importer of record.

Banking for commodity flows from this region asks focused attention, and we open that conversation in parallel with the incorporation. Further reading: a commodity trading entity and joint venture structures.

Frequently asked questions

Does the EU have a raw materials partnership with the DRC?

Yes, since 2023, covering raw materials value chains. The Lobito Corridor, backed by the EU's Global Gateway, is partly operational and moving Congolese minerals to the Atlantic port of Lobito.

How does the DRC cobalt quota affect exporters?

The 2026 export quota stands at 96,600 tonnes, divided between a base and a strategic tranche. Capped volume shifts the commercial question toward value per tonne, which strengthens the case for delivered European sales contracted directly with European industry.

Does the EU Conflict Minerals Regulation apply?

It imposes supply-chain due diligence on tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold. Groups touching those minerals build OECD-aligned documentation before contracting with European buyers. Cobalt and copper fall outside that regulation, while responsible-sourcing documentation strengthens their position commercially.

What should a Congolese group expect on banking?

Deep due diligence at both the notary and the bank, including screening around politically exposed persons and state participations. Preparing the ownership documentation to that standard from the first exchange keeps the entity on a realistic path to operation.