Cobalt Sulphate Spot Price Remains Steady on May 16, SMM Review

Sandile Zungu, a South African businessman, is leading an investment consortium together with his firm Zungu Investments and former Glencore nickel trading executive Jason Kluk to acquire a 54.17% controlling stake held by Sumitomo Corporation in the Ambatovy nickel-cobalt project in Madagascar. Sumitomo has decided to exit the project after incurring cumulative losses of approximately $3 billion over the past 20 years and expects to record a one-off loss of about $445 million from the transaction, while retaining certain offtake rights. Sumitomo stated that it is confident the new shareholder structure, formed by Essenwood Partners and Zungu Investments, has the necessary technical and commercial expertise to operate the large-scale nickel-cobalt project profitably.

Amid sustained demand growth, India plans to build a strategic reserve of critical minerals including lithium, cobalt, nickel, copper and rare earths. The stockpile will be sized to cover six months of domestic consumption, aiming to guard against risks of global supply disruptions and sharp raw material price volatility. Led by India’s Ministry of Mines and Ministry of Heavy Industries, the reserve covers key raw materials essential for new energy vehicles, energy storage and the electronics sector, fields where India currently relies heavily on imports. At present, the United States, China, South Korea and other countries have already established strategic reserve systems for critical minerals.

On April 29, during Geely's Q1 2026 results conference, Gan Jiayue, CEO of Geely Auto Group, stated that the Zeekr 9X will be exported to the Middle East in June, launched in Central Asia in Q3, and enter the European market in Q4. Gan also revealed that the Zeekr 8X will be promoted in overseas markets from Q4 this year to Q1 next year. Data shows that in the first quarter, deliveries of the Zeekr 9X reached 22,000 units.