Glencore has agreed to purchase nearly 2,000 metric tons of cobalt from industry veteran Rami Weisfisch, a transaction valued at almost $115 million at current market prices, according to two sources familiar with the arrangement. The metal, which has applications in defense and military equipment, is anticipated to be shipped to the United States for potential inclusion in a planned national stockpile.
The acquisition is structured as a 12-month purchase in 2026, with a pricing mechanism tied to assessments published by Fastmarkets, the sources said. The agreement, reached at the end of last year, formalizes the transfer of cobalt that Weisfisch originally acquired in 2015 and which remains stored across locations in Europe and the United States.
Both Weisfisch and Glencore declined to comment on the matter when contacted.
Sources expect Glencore to ultimately sell the metal to the United States under Project Vault, a government-supported initiative to assemble a strategic reserve of critical minerals. Project Vault is backed by $10 billion in seed funding from the U.S. Export-Import Bank together with $2 billion in private capital. Glencore CEO Gary Nagle indicated at a briefing last week that the company would participate in the project.
The timing of the Glencore-Weisfisch agreement followed the cancellation of a U.S. Defense Logistics Agency tender to buy cobalt in October of last year. That tender, initially announced on August 19, underwent several amendments before being withdrawn. The Defense Logistics Agency told reporters last year that it still intended to procure cobalt for the National Defense Stockpile but had paused to reassess its strategy and did not set a date to reissue the tender.
When the tender was first floated, requests for offers were limited to three specific suppliers: Vale for its Port Colborne and Long Harbour facilities in Canada, Japan Sumitomo Metal Mining, and Glencore for its Nikkelverk operation in Norway.
Market conditions underpinning the deal reflect a tighter cobalt supply picture and rising demand expectations. The Democratic Republic of Congo, the world's largest source of cobalt, suspended exports and imposed quotas from the end of February through mid-October, constraining supply. Those measures, coupled with stronger anticipated demand, have helped drive up prices.
At $26 per pound, or $57,320 per ton, reported prices are about 160% higher than levels seen in February 2025. Congo produces cobalt as a byproduct of copper mining, typically in the form of hydroxide that can be converted into cobalt sulphate, an input used to produce lithium-ion battery materials for electric vehicles and mobile devices.
China, the dominant global processor of cobalt and other critical minerals, has been particularly affected by the Congolese export restrictions. With limited processed material available from Congo, Chinese buyers have been actively seeking supplies to sustain downstream industries.
The deal between Glencore and Weisfisch also represents a significant milestone in Weisfisch career terms: the agreement marks what sources say is the conclusion of his roughly 50-year involvement in the cobalt market.
Context and implications
The transaction connects a private inventory of cobalt acquired in 2015 to emergent U.S. policy efforts to diversify and secure supplies of strategic minerals. Project Vault and the Defense Logistics Agency have been focal points for U.S. efforts to shore up reserves of materials viewed as critical to national security and strategic industries.
While the precise commercial steps following Glencore purchase remain subject to execution, the deal highlights how supply constraints in the Democratic Republic of Congo and procurement shifts in the United States are intersecting in global cobalt markets.