The prices of gold, silver and zinc will increase in the international market, during the period from February 4 to 9, says the National Commission of Mercurial of the Ministry of Foreign Trade in a statement arrived Sunday at the CPA.
According to this release, these products will trade respectively at US 41,934.71 against US 41,502.42, US 457.08 against US 451.52 per kilogram, US 2,667.20 against US 2,556.30 per ton.
Copper, cobalt and tantalum will decline during the period under review respectively trading at US 5,954.10 each at US 5,961.20, US 34,001.10 against US 34,794.90 per ton and US11.52 against US11.62 per kilogram.
Cobalt price declines 30% on the international market
As a reminder, the president of the Federation of Enterprises of the Congo (FEC), Albert Yuma Mulimbi had, in his intervention on the balance sheet of this corporation, pointed out that the situation of the cobalt price on the international market has increased of 30 % at the end of December 2018 and more than 50% since July 2018.
According to him, this decline of price remained above 25% in 2012 at the end of 2016, before the start of the rally to the summit which brought the cobalt to nearly 100,000 (one hundred thousand) USD per ton. Yuma argued that this decline has been short-lived, as the fundamentals of cobalt demand are present, particularly with respect to electric vehicles. The needs for this new technology are growing and investments are massive.
He also said that the decline in the price of cobalt is also linked to the massive influx into the market of cobalt from the uncontrolled Congolese mining industry, which represented, according to various studies, around 30% of the national production, the equivalent of 24,000 (twenty-four thousand) tons of cobalt per year.
To jugulate this influx, the FEC recommends that the government takes action to improve the social situation of both miners and their incomes and put an end to this decline in price on the international market.
Arabica coffee and cocoa falling on the international market
In addition, the prices of Arabica coffee and cocoa are decreasing on the international market, during the period from January 31 to February 6, 2019, indicates the trends of the basic values of agricultural products and forest menus, in a statement of the National Committee of Mercurial of Foreign Trade reached the same day at the ACP. According to the same release, these products are trading at US 1.42 against US 1.43, US 1.16 against US 1.22 per kilogram.
The robusta coffee, rubber, papain, the barks of quinquina, the powder of totaquina, the quinine salt and the rauwolfia remained stable on the international market.
These products are respectively negotiated to US 1,49 0, US 67, US 15.47, US 1.50 USD, LUS 52.80, US 89.76 and 1,US 50 a kilogram.
The fall of these products on the international market is dictated by the quantity of the aforesaid products on the market. The DRC having lost its position on the market with regard to the production of the coffee and the cocoa, currently depends on large producers, such as the Côte d'ivoire
(CKS/Yes)