SHANGHAI, Apr 28 (SMM) – China imported 27,006 physical mt of cobalt raw materials in March, equivalent to about 8,200 metal mt, up 29% month on month and down 3% year on year. Among them, the import of cobalt concentrate stood at 420 physical mt, which was equivalent to 34 metal mt, down 60% from the previous month, and down 93% from the previous year. The import of intermediate products of cobalt hydro-metallurgy stood at 25,223 physical mt, which was equivalent to 6,810 metal mt, up 24% increase from the previous month and down 9% from the previous year. Imports of unwrought cobalt stood at 1,362 mt, up 77% month on month and up 180% year on year.
Imports of cobalt raw materials totalled 72,742 physical mt from January to March, of which 1,969 physical mt of cobalt concentrates were imported, equivalent to 158 metal mt, down 92% year on year. Imports of intermediate products of cobalt hydro-metallurgy stood at 68,198 physical mt, approximately equivalent to 18,400 metal mt, up 7% year on year. Imports of unwrought cobalt came in at 2,575 mt, equivalent to 2,570 metal mt, up 211% year on year.
In terms of different countries, intermediate products of cobalt hydro-metallurgy were mainly imported from the Congo (DRC), accounting for nearly 98%. The rest imported 40 and 490 physical mt from Turkey and the Russian Federation respectively.
In terms of prices, the average import prices of intermediate products of cobalt hydro-metallurgy stood at $42,247/metal mt in March, up 14% month on month and 60% year on year. The average import price of China's intermediate products of cobalt hydro-metallurgy stood at $37,689/metal mt from January to March 2020, up 51% year on year.
Imports of domestic cobalt intermediate products decreased year on year in March, while imports of unwrought cobalt increased significantly year on year. According to the SMM China Cobalt Raw Material Balance Sheet, domestic cobalt raw materials decreased 5,100 metal mt in the first quarter of 2021 (excluding refined cobalt). Considering that cobalt briquettes or some cobalt plates may also dissolve supplementary raw materials, refined cobalt made up about 1,600 metal mt of the gap, while the overall cobalt raw material inventory gap was still large.
Shipping schedules and container data in South Africa have shown some improvement since March. The cobalt raw materials accumulated in the port of Durban in the early stage have been shipped out one after another. Considering the 1-1.5 month transportation cycle, it is expected that the domestic cobalt raw material inventories will gradually increase in the second quarter, while are still not enough. SMM expects imported cobalt intermediate products to stand at 7,500 metal mt in April. There is still a gap of 500 metal mt of domestic cobalt raw materials, and refined cobalt may make up for it.
