Prices of cobalt products are expected to continue to moderate in the near term with the arrival of seaborne cobalt raw materials and the continued weak demand for cobalt sulphate.

Prices of cobalt are expected to further retreat this week as the arrival of cheap cobalt raw materials impacts the domestic spot market and grow cobalt salt producers inclination to destock. 

Prices of refined cobalt and cobalt intermediate products in China edged lower last week. Some domestic cobalt suppliers cut output due to shortage of raw materials, but some producers held production of refined cobalt at high levels as refined cobalt prices outperformed that of cobalt salts. 

Trades in the cobalt market remained muted as concerns about tight raw materials supply have faded. Cobalt prices may again retreat with the arrival of seaborne cobalt raw materials at end-June. 

Prices of cobalt rebounded last week, but the possibility of a sustained price rally is limited given the continued weakness in the new energy vehicle (NEV) market. Spot cobalt transactions were light last week as large-scale producers of high-temperature alloy and magnetic materials had sufficient stockpiles of cobalt raw materials. 

The China Solid Waste and Chemicals Management Bureau, a unit of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, granted import allowances for 10,423 mt of high-grade copper scrap to 14 companies in the latest release, bringing the cumulative quotas for this year to 540,184 mt.

Jiangsu Tafel New Energy Technology on May 17 kicked off construction of its phase II and III capacity of a power battery project, which is located at the Jiangning Development Zone, Nanjing.  

Prices of most light and medium-to-heavy rare earth oxides increased last week as sellers firmed up offers on active enquiries by downstream consumers. SMM expects the improvement in enquiries to continue to support prices of medium-to-heavy rare earth oxides this week, while prices of light rare earth, such as praseodymium-neodymium oxide, will likely pull back as the strength of demand may unable to sustain a price rally. 

Prices of Chinese cobalt products may slow their downside trend in the short term as uncertainties around raw materials imports remain even as top supplier South Africa has eased coronavirus lockdown measures to level 4 which allowed freight transport to resume. 

Copper scrap supply in China is estimated to have shrunk nearly 200,000 mt in the first three months of 2020, as escalated virus-control measures disrupted global trade flows and as Chinese suppliers held back on sales following a slump in copper prices. A total of 225,083 mt of copper scrap was imported to China in January-to-March, down close to 140,000 mt, or more than 38% from the same period last year, according to data from China customs. SMM estimates that those copper scrap imports, with average Cu content of 78.49%, contained 176,676 mt of copper, down more than 37% from the quarter ended March 2019.