Supply-demand battle dominates cobalt market: Metal and hydroxide steady; cobalt sulfate slips on soft demand

Published: May 21, 2026 17:44

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Refined Cobalt:
Spot refined cobalt prices continued to move sideways this week. Supply side, mainstream smelters held their offers steady, and traders maintained a stable spot-futures price spread ranging from parity to a premium of 8,000-10,000 yuan/mt. Demand side, downstream alloy and magnetic material enterprises continued purchasing as needed, maintaining tight control over raw material inventory levels. The current metal price spread between refined cobalt and lower-priced cobalt salt remained at a low level, and with cobalt salt being difficult to sell, enterprises showed weak willingness to re-dissolve for refined cobalt production. The market is likely to remain range-bound in the short term, and price rises still depend on effective upward momentum from the cobalt salt side.

Cobalt Intermediate Products:
Cobalt intermediate product prices remained generally stable this week. Supply side, suppliers held firm bullish expectations, with offers consistently held above $26/lb. Demand side performance was flat; affected by weak cobalt salt prices, downstream smelters only made just-in-time procurement, with some non-standard products transacting near $25/lb. On the quota front, 2025 Q4 miner quota approvals were largely completed, while Q1 quota approvals were slower due to procedural constraints. Combined with tight logistics capacity in the DRC and low transport priority for cobalt cargo, the arrival of large-volume shipments at Chinese ports may be further delayed. In the short term, weighed down by weak demand, prices are likely to remain stable, but once downstream orders materialize and restocking demand is released, intermediate product prices still have room for upward recovery.

Cobalt Sulphate:
Spot cobalt sulphate prices continued their gradual decline this week. Supply side, mainstream brand offer centers shifted down to 92,000-95,000 yuan/mt; some smelters and traders, under cash flow pressure, again made concessions on shipments, with low-priced cargoes probing down to 88,000-89,000 yuan/mt. Demand side, downstream enterprises still primarily drew down existing inventory, with weak purchasing enthusiasm and only minimal just-in-time restocking. Some downstream players reported that LCO production schedules fell short of expectations, and they remained on the sidelines until orders were confirmed. Short-term prices are likely to continue moving sideways, with subsequent recovery still dependent on the release of downstream restocking demand.

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