Copper exports from the Democratic Republic of Congo rose by almost 10% in 2025, strengthening its standing as the world’s second-largest producer of the metal, behind Chile.
Preliminary figures presented by the DR Congo Ministry of Mines at a mining conference in Cape Town show that the country exported 3.4 million tons of copper in 2025, compared with 3.1 million tons the previous year.
The increase comes at a time when global copper supply faces disruptions from operational setbacks and mining accidents, even as demand is projected to rise sharply due to the clean energy transition and expanding artificial intelligence technologies. Reflecting these pressures, copper prices have climbed 40% over the past year, reaching a record high above $14,500 per ton in January 2026, according to Bloomberg.
Production in the DRC is largely driven by Chinese firms. CMOC Group Ltd. operates the country’s largest copper mines, including Tenke Fungurume, which produced 519,000 tons, and the Kisanfu project, which delivered 228,000 tons.
While the DRC is typically the world’s leading cobalt supplier, cobalt exports plunged nearly 80% to 44,500 tons in 2025 after authorities imposed an export ban in February, followed by strict quotas in October.
US-DRC critical minerals partnership
During President Donald Trump’s administration, the United States placed emphasis on securing access to critical minerals and strengthening domestic processing capacity. A bilateral agreement signed on December 4 granted American investors priority access to the DRC’s reserves of copper, cobalt, lithium, and tantalum.
The agreement has already paved the way for several U.S.-backed mining transactions. Orion CMC, supported by the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, announced a preliminary deal to acquire stakes in Glencore Plc’s copper-cobalt operations in the DRC.
Trade between the two countries has also accelerated. Exports from the DRC to the United States totaled $1.3 billion in the first seven months of 2025, surpassing the combined total recorded between 2017 and 2024, according to U.S. government data. In January, Congolese authorities confirmed plans to ship 100,000 metric tons of copper from a Chinese-operated mine to the U.S. after submitting a list of state-backed mining projects for potential American investment.
Local ownership rule to reshape sector
Domestically, new regulatory enforcement could significantly impact the mining industry. The government has moved to implement a long-standing rule requiring mining firms to allocate a portion of their share capital to Congolese employees.
Mining companies have until July 31, 2026, to demonstrate compliance, according to a letter from the mines ministry shared on X. The measure could reshape ownership structures across some of the world’s largest copper and cobalt mines and influence a wide range of industrial mining projects.
The DRC accounts for roughly 70% of global cobalt supply and remains the second-largest producer of copper worldwide.