Cobalt Prices Held Steady This Thursday

Co3O4 mainstream quotations this week were in the range of 215,000-220,000 yuan/mt, with actual transactions mostly concentrated in the 210,000-215,000 yuan/mt range. Prices remained stable overall, showing no significant fluctuations, and market wait-and-see sentiment increased. Despite a recovery in end-use demand, which boosted Co3O4 consumption, the cost advantage of directly purchasing cobalt salts for toll processing led some downstream cathode material and battery cell enterprises to switch to cobalt salt procurement. This shift somewhat weakened direct demand for Co3O4, restraining its price volatility. It is expected that Co3O4 prices will continue to remain stable next week.