I. Price Background: YoY Still at High Levels, Price Center Pulled Back During the Year

From January 5 to June 30, 2026, the SMM average price of refined cobalt fell from 457,000 yuan/mt to 379,500 yuan/mt, and the SMM average price of cobalt sulphate fell from 93,600 yuan/mt to 86,000 yuan/mt; as of September 3, the two average prices further declined to 305,000 yuan/mt and 71,000 yuan/mt, respectively. In other words, the dominant direction of cobalt prices since the beginning of this year has remained a downward consolidation; however, due to the low price base in the same period of 2025, current prices are still at relatively high levels compared with the reporting season in H1 2025.

Feedback from the industry chain shows that primary raw material supply was tight in H1, but growth in recycled cobalt salt supply and cautious downstream purchasing put prices under pressure. Therefore, the YoY improvement in selling prices and gross margins in semi-annual reports should not be directly interpreted as a sustained rise in cobalt prices during the year; when observing H2 operating performance, it is still necessary to consider companies' raw material pricing, inventory turnover, and sales recognition pace.

II. Financial Performance: Revenue and Profit of Most Chinese Sample Companies Grew YoY

Among the six Chinese companies, CMOC, CNGR, and Tengyuan Cobalt posted relatively notable YoY growth in net profit attributable to shareholders, while Huayou Cobalt and GEM also achieved growth; Hanrui Cobalt's net profit attributable to shareholders fell 22.50% YoY, but its non-GAAP net profit grew 44.56% YoY. The two indicators moved in different directions, mainly due to the impact of non-recurring gains and losses.

Growth at the group level was not entirely driven by cobalt. CMOC's copper, cobalt, and other mineral products jointly contributed to performance; Huayou Cobalt and CNGR saw synergistic growth across their materials and resources segments; Tengyuan Cobalt also recorded a relatively high increase in copper product revenue in H1. GEM's net profit attributable to shareholders grew 34.68%, while non-GAAP net profit fell 32.50% YoY; the company attributed the YoY decline in operating cash flow mainly to increased raw material reserves after raw material prices rose. Judgments on the cobalt segment therefore need to return to the production, sales, and product-specific data directly disclosed by each company.

In terms of cash conversion, CMOC and CNGR had ratios of H1 net operating cash flow to net profit attributable to shareholders above 1; Huayou Cobalt and GEM were below 1; Tengyuan Cobalt and Hanrui Cobalt were negative due to net operating cash outflows. This indicator is affected by factors such as raw material procurement, inventory changes, credit cycles, and project construction stages, and is more suitable as a supplementary observation of profit quality rather than a basis for simple horizontal judgments of business performance.

III. Resource-Oriented Companies: Quotas and Operating Conditions Affecting Production and Sales Pace

Glencore: Cobalt Production Down YoY, Some Cobalt Temporarily Retained in Solution

Glencore's H1 2026 revenue was $174.430 billion, up 49% YoY; adjusted EBITDA was $10.115 billion, up 86% YoY. Self-produced cobalt production was 10,200 mt, down 46% YoY. In its semi-annual production report, the company explained that the DRC cobalt export quota system affected production arrangements, with more cobalt in mixed ore temporarily retained in solution, to be processed and sold after export rules change.

CMOC: Production Maintained Growth, Sales and Inventory Reflecting Quota Impact

CMOC's H1 cobalt production was 65,300 mt, up 6.93% YoY; external sales were 5,700 mt, down 87.60% YoY; period-end inventory was 168,400 mt, up 54.75% from year-end. This set of data shows a clear divergence between mine production and external sales pace in H1. The company's disclosed 2026 cobalt production guidance remains at 100,000-120,000 mt.

Sherritt: Operational Disruptions Affected Production and Sales, Selling Prices Improved YoY

Sherritt's H1 consolidated revenue was C$238.7 million, down 9% YoY; net loss from continuing operations was C$80.3 million. Adjusted EBITDA for the Metals segment was C$6 million, down 55% YoY. The company's attributable finished cobalt production was 348 mt and sales were 370 mt, down 51% and 56% YoY, respectively; the average realized cobalt price was C$33.54/lb, up 116% YoY, and cobalt revenue was C$27.4 million, down approximately 4% YoY. The company disclosed that fuel and material supply factors in Cuba affected operations at the Moa mine and Fort Saskatchewan refining business, and that it is advancing restart preparations subject to relevant approval conditions.

IV. Smelting and Materials Companies: YoY Gross Margin Improvement, High-Voltage Products Continuing to Advance

Companies' disclosure scopes for cobalt business are not entirely consistent. Huayou Cobalt, Tengyuan Cobalt, and Hanrui Cobalt disclose under "cobalt products"; CNGR discloses under "cobalt-based materials"; GEM separately discloses cobalt recycling business and Co3O4. For ease of observation, the chart below uses the original reporting scopes from each company's semi-annual report, with GEM's revenue and gross margin calculated by combining the two directly disclosed items.

Huayou Cobalt:H1 cobalt product revenue was 3.683 billion yuan, with a gross margin of 39.88% based on disclosed costs; cobalt product shipments were 15,800 mt, down approximately 24% YoY. Meanwhile, the company's ternary cathode material and precursor shipments grew 93% and 94% YoY, respectively, with group growth more reflective of multi-business synergy. The company disclosed that 4.55V Co3O4 has been introduced into leading supply chains, and 4.55V LCO has achieved hundred-ton-level deliveries.

CNGR:H1 cobalt-based material revenue was 2.636 billion yuan, up 81.52% YoY, with a gross margin of 17.54%, down 8.34 percentage points YoY; cobalt-based material production was 14,600 mt, with a capacity utilization rate of 77.28%. The company's semi-annual report stated that 4.55V high-voltage cobalt-based precursors have entered mass production, and 4.6V products are being developed in parallel.

GEM:H1 Co3O4 revenue was 2.142 billion yuan, down 0.67% YoY, with a gross margin of 21.63%, up 9.23 percentage points YoY; cobalt recycling business revenue was 878 million yuan, down 25.82% YoY, with a gross margin of 24.51%, up 10.65 percentage points YoY. The company listed a project for annual production of 10,000 mt of doped Co3O4 for high-voltage lithium batteries among its construction in progress.

Tengyuan Cobalt:H1 cobalt product revenue was 1.868 billion yuan, up 11.22% YoY, with a gross margin of 33.77%, up 10.00 percentage points YoY. The company's net operating cash flow was -205 million yuan, which the semi-annual report attributed mainly to increased copper product capacity and higher procurement spending on copper raw materials and secondary resource raw materials.

Hanrui Cobalt:H1 cobalt product revenue was 1.171 billion yuan, down 7.99% YoY, with a gross margin of 42.41%, up 37.27 percentage points YoY. The company's net profit attributable to shareholders declined YoY, but non-GAAP net profit grew YoY, indicating differences between profit measures; the company also continued to advance its product portfolio including cobalt powder, LCO, and Co3O4.

Umicore:H1 group revenue (excluding the value of purchased metals) was 1.9 billion euros, up 7.1% YoY, and adjusted EBITDA was 577 million euros, up 33.5% YoY. Specialty Materials revenue and adjusted EBITDA grew 21% and 49% YoY, respectively. The company noted that cobalt and specialty materials business delivered relatively good profitability, while also cautioning that the segment's exceptional growth in H1 is expected to moderate further in H2.

V. Projects and Operating Arrangements Disclosed in Semi-Annual Reports

The following content only excerpts project progress, production guidance, and operating arrangements from each company's 2026 semi-annual report or contemporaneous results announcements, without additional extrapolation of commissioning timing, capacity release, or profit contribution.

VI. Summary and Outlook

Based on disclosures from nine companies, the financial performance of the cobalt industry chain in H1 2026 was jointly determined by a low YoY base, improved product selling prices, quota policies, production and sales recognition, and companies' own business structures. On the resource side, continued tracking is needed for DRC quota implementation and the subsequent pace of inventory release; on the smelting and materials side, attention can be paid to high-voltage product ramp-up, raw material and inventory turnover, processing margins, and changes in operating cash flow.

It should be emphasized that cobalt prices have generally drifted lower since the beginning of this year. Therefore, the YoY improvement in semi-annual reports is not the same concept as the H2 operating environment. Subsequent judgments on companies' cobalt segment performance are better made through continuous observation of indicators such as prices, sales, inventory, product mix, and cash flow.

Scope Note: Financial and production/sales data for companies in this article are taken from each company's 2026 semi-annual report, semi-annual results announcement, or contemporaneous production report; amounts are presented in original currencies and rounded. SMM prices are the arithmetic midpoint of the corresponding spot price high-low range, and monthly indices are the monthly average of daily average prices. Accounting standards, segment classifications, and cobalt business scopes are not fully consistent across companies, and should not be used for simple absolute rankings.

SMM Cobalt Analyst Xiao Wenhao 16621140365 / 021-51666872

SMM New Energy Research Team

Wang Cong 021-51666838

Ma Rui 021-51595780

Feng Disheng 021-51666714

Lyu Yanlin 021-20707875

Xiao Wenhao 021-51666872

Zhang Haohan 021-51666752

Wang Zihan 021-51666914

Wang Jie 021-51595902

Xu Yang 021-51666760

Yang Lianting 021-51595835