DLA expects to issue updated cobalt metal solicitation worth up to $500M

The Defense Logistics Agency said today it expects to re-issue and update a previously cancelled solicitation for cobalt metal worth up to $500 million in awards at the end of the month.

The initial call -- published in August with strict specifications on sourcing the cobalt metal -- went through 10 amendments before DLA cancelled the solicitation last month, according to a statement from the agency.

"The cancelled cobalt metal solicitation is for rotating aerospace applications, which requires specific qualified cobalt sources,” DLA said.

Those specific sources for the alloy-grade cobalt metal included three suppliers originating from Canada, Japan and Norway. If vendors sought other sources qualified or in the qualification process “with U.S.-based aerospace alloy manufacturers” for rotating parts, submissions would have to include at least two letters from such manufacturers confirming the source’s completed or near-completed qualification.

During the solicitation window, though, DLA said “it became unclear if there was another qualified source in addition to the three originally identified.”

That led to the agency cancelling the call so it could verify qualified sources and write a justification and approval for the limitations.

DLA intends to issue an updated call by the end of the month, and the agency expects to make an award in early February.

Cobalt is one of many critical mineral supply chains dominated by China. While the U.S. has increased efforts to ensure access to critical minerals for defense, commercial and energy applications via negotiation with allies and changes in domestic policy, a recent report from the International Energy Agency says concentration in the global minerals market has so far only increased.

“Diversification is central to energy security,” IEA says in its 2025 World Energy Outlook, “yet the production, refining and processing of critical minerals is becoming increasingly concentrated in a few countries, heightening vulnerabilities to shocks and disruptions.”

Aside from defense applications, cobalt is also considered a key energy mineral -- a market that has been especially susceptible to concentration in recent years.

“As a result, geographic concentration in refining increased for nearly all key energy minerals, and particularly for nickel and cobalt. The average market share of the top-three refining nations of key energy minerals rose from around 82 percent in 2020 to 86 percent in 2024,” according to the IEA report.