(Yicai Global) Feb. 26 -- A unit of Chinese resources firm Pengxin International Mining Co. has secured a 15-year sales agreement with a mining firm in the Democratic Republic of Congo for copper and cobalt concentrates, used in the production of new energy vehicle batteries.

The Shanghai-based firm's Shituru Mining Corp. subsidiary will receive minimum annual supplies of 5,500 tons of copper and 1,500 tons of cobalt from Vicent Mining Corp. over the duration of the deal, the company said in a statement.

Pengxin plans to sell the products to players in China's fast-growing NEV sector. Global lithium-ion battery demand is expected to reach 500 gigawatt-hours by 2025, compared with 85 gigawatt-hours in 2016, said Benchmark Mineral Intelligence in a report at the end of last year.

Benchmark expects 49 percent of total planned capacity to be built in China, which accounted for half of total global NEV sales last year.

The first supply will take place before July this year, with prices to be negotiated using the average trading price of the London Metals Exchange and Metal Bulletin markets in the preceding quarter, the statement said.

Shituru is currently constructing a cobalt hydroxide project in the DRC, expected to start supplies by the end of 2018. The project will produce 3,000 tons of cobalt metal annually in the first phase and 7,000 tons in the second phase.