The Baar-headquartered commodities firm will supply 150,000 tonnes of cobalt hydroxide over the period, more than double the 61,200t agreed in October 2019.

With concerns surrounding the sustainability of cobalt production, the two companies have also committed to annual audits under standards developed by the Responsible Minerals' Initiative.

"After the signing of this agreement, GEM will no longer worry about the supply of responsible cobalt, said Xu, Kai Hua, chairman of GEM.

The rising adoption of new energy vehicles has created concerns about the availability of battery materials, especially cobalt, given supply is located mainly in challenging jurisdictions like the DRC.

Glencore produces cobalt in the DRC and also as a by-product of nickel mining in Australia and Canada. The company produced 46,300t of the battery metal in 2019, however, production in 2020 is forecast to fall significantly, to about 28,000t.

"Cobalt, as one of the key raw materials for EV batteries, will become a global strategic resource of extreme importance for the rapidly growing new energy vehicles market in China and the rest of the world," said Xu.