By Bloomberg

Zimbabwe won’t defer a ban on exports of lithium concentrate that’s scheduled to come into effect in January, Mines Minister Polite Kambamura said, rejecting a request by the industry to postpone the moratorium until at least March.

“We are still sticking with January 1,” Kambamura told reporters on Friday at a mine owned by Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt, 48 kilometers east of the capital, Harare.

Zimbabwe halted shipments of lithium concentrate in February to promote domestic processing of higher value products and curb illegal shipments of the metal that’s used in the production of electric vehicle batteries. Like other African nations including Guinea, Ghana and the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zimbabwe is seeking to derive more value from its natural resources.

The export restrictions were relaxed in April and the ban is now due to be implemented at the start of 2027, though the Lithium Producers Association of Zimbabwe last month asked the government to allow a grace period of at least several months.

“The producers were given a notice in June 2025,” Kambamura said. “We are not going to change everything. They have to run with this.”

Zimbabwe’s supply outlook is being closely watched as it has become a major supplier of lithium feedstock following a surge of investment by Chinese companies. The southern African nation accounted for about 10% of global mined production last year, according to the US Geological Survey.

Chinese investors in Zimbabwe’s lithium sector include local units of Sinomine Resource Group, Chengxin Lithium Group and Sichuan Yahua Industrial Group, Sinomine and Yahua are building facilities capable of making lithium sulfate, an intermediate material used to make battery-grade chemicals, while Huayou already commissioned its own plant.

Huayou also plans to begin commercial output of rough lithium carbonate at its Arcadia mine next month, making it Africa’s first large-scale project of its kind, said Patience Mushore-Chizodza, the subsidiary’s public relations manager.

Sulfate output at the mine this year is expected to be about 70% of design capacity, which is 50 000 tons, Arcadia Mine Manager Mthokozisi Goliath said in an interview.