US explored adding more cobalt to defence stockpiles, sources say

Jervois Global

18/03/2024 13:00

By Pratima Desai
       LONDON, March 18 (Reuters) - The U.S. looked into buying
cobalt for defence stockpiles last year, three sources with
knowledge of the matter said, adding the Defense Logistics
Agency (DLA) could consider purchases in future despite deciding
against them in its latest plan.
    Any increase in cobalt holdings would be aimed at reducing
reliance on China, which dominates the processing of the
material used to make missiles, aerospace parts, magnets for
communication, and radar and guidance systems. 
    Cobalt is also used to make the batteries that power
electric vehicles, a key plank of the energy transition.
    The DLA's stockpiling plans which run from October 2023 to
September 2024 did not include cobalt, surprising the market,
which had expected the 60% price  OCBc1  drop to around $16 a lb
since May 2022 to incentivise purchases.
    DLA spokesperson Joe Yoswa said: "DLA ... conducts critical
material supply chain assessments biennially to determine NDS
(National Defense Stockpiles) requirements. Cobalt is not
currently presenting as a vulnerability requiring stockpiling." 
    "Should that change in the future, DLA will reassess and
make an appropriate recommendation on stockpiling to the
Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment."
    Yoswa added the NDS is "for defense purposes and is not an
economic stockpile" and that "the current price of a commodity
cannot be used as justification to acquire materials".
    The unfavourable price backdrop prompted cobalt and nickel
supplier Jervois Global  JRV.AX  to suspend final construction
of its Idaho cobalt operations in March last year, which would
have been the only primary cobalt mine in the United States. It
was expected to produce 2,000 metric tons a year.
    Prices are likely to remain depressed due to slowing sales
of electric vehicles which use cobalt-containing batteries, and
new battery chemistries that don't use it.
    The sources said some of the impetus for the move to assess
cobalt came from a letter sent by Congress in September 2022 to
the Department of Defense (DoD) asking it "to direct" DLA "to
prioritize the acquisition of domestically refined cobalt".
    The letter signed by lawmakers Byron Donalds, Don Bacon,
Eric A. "Rick" Crawford, Kevin Hern and Markwayne Mullin cited
"a heavy dependence on other countries’ refined cobalt,
particularly China" as a reason to add to U.S. stockpiles.
    Spokespeople confirmed Mullin and Donalds signed the letter,
while those for Crawford and Hern did not respond to requests
for comment.
    "As indicated in his 2022 letter to Under Secretary of
Defense (William) La Plante, Congressman Bacon believes the
Department should move aggressively to secure domestic sources
of critical minerals including cobalt," a spokesperson for Bacon
said.
    Most of the cobalt mined in Congo, amounting to 77% of
global supplies or more than 170,000 tons last year, according
to Darton Commodities, was exported to China for processing into
metal or chemicals for batteries.
    The NDS "lacks sufficient cobalt reserves, endangering
America’s critical mineral supply chain", the letter said,
adding that: "From approximately 13,000 tons during the Cold
War, cobalt in the Stockpile is now estimated at 333 tons".
    "In practical terms, the total cobalt stockpile is only 5
percent of annual U.S. consumption."
    Yoswa declined to comment on how much cobalt DLA has in its
stockpiles. "The National Defense Stockpile does hold 99.8% pure
cobalt, but we won’t provide the amount that we hold for
security purposes," he said. 

 (Reporting by Pratima Desai. Additional reporting by Ernest
Scheyder. Editing by Veronica Brown and Mark Potter)
 ((pratima.desai@thomsonreuters.com; +44 207 513 5681;))