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Glencore has signed a five-year agreement with Samsung SDI to supply cobalt hydroxide for the technology giant’s lithium-ion batteries.

Under the contract, Glencore will provide Samsung with up to 21,000 tonnes of cobalt contained in cobalt hydroxide between 2020 and 2024.

The cobalt will be sourced from Glencore’s mines in the Katanga and Mutanda mines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in central Africa.

Glencore head of copper and cobalt marketing Nico Paraskevas was pleased to enter into a long-term cobalt supply agreement with a big name like Samsung, which the company has worked with in the past.

“We are pleased to extend our partnership with Samsung SDI,” Paraskevas said.

“This demonstrates a further continuation of Glencore’s cobalt hydroxide marketing strategy to secure long-term supply agreements with key players in the lithium-ion battery supply chain.

“This also illustrates Glencore’s important role in supplying the materials that enable the energy and mobility transition and Glencore’s commitment to responsible production.”

Together, the two companies are committed to ensuring ethical and responsible production and procurement of cobalt at Glencore’s DRC mines.

Both parties agreed that Glencore’s DRC mines would be independently audited every year against the Cobalt Refinery Supply Chain Due Diligence Standard, defined by the Responsible Mining Initiative.

Glencore produced 42,200 tonnes of cobalt globally in 2018.