Post-CNY Holiday Cobalt Prices Will Move Upwards with Rising Overseas Quotes

SHANGHAI, Jan 27 (SMM) - The output of cobalt sulphate in January will be about 5,900 mt in metal content, and the output of cobalt chloride will stand at 4,400 mt in metal content. With the approaching of the Chinese New Year, the downstream has basically completed their pre-holiday restocking, and the price has demonstrated steady increases. However, the prices of cobalt salts jumped slightly recently due to a temporary surge in demand generated by terminal orders.

A number of cobalt salt manufacturers will take holidays or undergo maintenance during the CNY. It is expected that the output of cobalt sulphate and cobalt chloride will drop by about 630 mt and 380 mt in metal content respectively. The costs of cobalt salt post the CNY holiday will continue to rise slightly following the hike of overseas refined cobalt quotes. And the supply of cobalt salt will rise slightly with the resumption of work. The demand side is likely to pick up driven by the post-holiday resumption of production, but will shrink soon with the arrival of the off-season in the electronics sector.

In terms of prices, considering that there is still great uncertainty in the arrivals of intermediate products from overseas after the CNY holiday, the prices of cobalt salt may remain stable or rise slightly. The prices of cobalt sulphate are expected to move between 108,000-110,000 yuan/mt, and the prices of cobalt chloride will be 126,000-128,000 yuan/mt.