Cobalt Price Doubles, and Motive Battery Plants Eye on High-Nickel Battery

Global chrome ore departures totaled 642,500 mt in the week ended October 2, down 2.74% week-on-week, according to SMM's latest data. The modest headline decline masks a significant reshuffling beneath the surface, as a sharp rebound at Maputo was offset by pullbacks at Richards Bay and Mersin. Maputo departures rose to 488,800 mt from 340,200 mt, a 43.68% increase that lifted the port's share of total departures back to roughly 76% from about 51.5% a week earlier, reversing the prior week's shift toward a more distributed export mix. Richards Bay fell to 95,700 mt from 227,800 mt, a 57.99% decline that gave back the bulk of the prior week's rebound, while Mersin eased 31.52% to 58,000 mt from 84,700 mt. Beira again recorded no chrome ore departures, remaining inactive for a fourth consecutive week. The week's data points to a reversion toward the more Maputo-concentrated flow pattern seen through most of August and September, with the prior week's broader distribution across ports proving short-lived. Whether Richards Bay's pullback reflects a one-off after an unusually strong prior week or a return to its more intermittent loading pattern will be worth monitoring in the coming weeks.

SMM data showed that China's high-carbon ferrochrome output in September 2026 fell 3.17% MoM, a wider decline than August's 1.25%. Output remained 18.8% higher YoY, though growth slowed from 20.36% in August. Output for January to September was up 30.84% YoY, compared with 32.56% at the end of August. The slowdown reflects squeezed margins. Firm coke prices, higher power tariffs and slow-moving chrome ore prices raised costs, while lower steel mill tender prices pressured ferrochrome prices, so southern producers, where costs are highest, cut output most. Output in the northern producing region held up better and kept national volumes well above last year, which is why YoY and YTD growth remain strong even as the MoM trend turns down. SMM expects output to ease only slightly from here, with weaker stainless steel demand offset by lower chrome ore costs and fixed long-term contract volumes.

[SMM Tantalum & Niobium Flash] Zodiac Gold has completed 10,661 soil samples across 530 km² of its Bomi South and Bong West licences in Liberia. National stream-sediment maps place parts of the licence package within the top 0.5% of Liberia’s dataset for 16 elements, including tantalum and niobium. Zodiac’s portable-XRF screening of 2,270 soil samples returned niobium values up to 61 ppm; the release provided no corresponding quantified tantalum soil result. The findings broaden the licences beyond their primary gold focus and identify areas for follow-up mapping and infill sampling. They remain reconnaissance evidence, not a tantalum or niobium discovery: portable-XRF readings are preliminary, most samples have not yet been screened for multiple elements, and no drilling, mineral resource, metallurgy or economic study has established recoverable mineralisation.