The self-described "urban miner" has set up 12 recycling industrial parks and says its battery materials output already accounted for 30% of the market in China and more than 15% of the world market.

GEM and its subsidiaries would purchase 13,800 tonnes of cobalt hydroxide from Glencore in 2018, 18,000t in 2019 and 21,000t in 2020, Reuters reported.

The purchase agreement did not specify the price, Bloomberg noted.

The deal comes as cobalt hit a fresh high of US$85,500 a tonne on the London Metal Exchange yesterday as demand for the critical battery ingredient soars on the growing shift to electric vehicles.

Glencore has not yet specifically referred to the deal, tweeting yesterday that demand for electric vehicles was "building demand" for its key commodities, namely copper, cobalt and nickel.

It produced 27,400t of cobalt in 2017 and plans to grow its production 133% over the next three years.

It produces cobalt mainly as a by-product of copper mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo and as a by-product from nickel mining in Australia and Canada.

Meanwhile, Reuters reported the DRC was set to declare cobalt a "strategic" mineral which would lift government royalties from 2% to 10%, as part of controversial changes to the country's mining code.

GEM shares were up more than 7% intraday while Glencore had closed up 1.8% in London yesterday.