[SMM Weekly Review] The cobalt intermediate products market held up well this week, with overall limited changes.

Published: Nov 20, 2025 18:17

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The cobalt intermediate products market held up well this week, with limited overall changes. On the supply side, sellers held prices firm, with the lowest market offers stabilizing around $24.0/lb, establishing a solid price floor. Demand remained generally stable; although some smelters had purchasing intentions, significant losses emerged as raw material costs substantially exceeded cobalt salt selling prices. Coupled with firm seller quotations, actual transactions remained sluggish, resulting in a clear "price without market" pattern. Currently, export approval procedures in the DRC have not yet been completed, and actual exports of intermediate products have not resumed. Considering the approximately three-month shipping period to China, domestic cobalt raw material supply is expected to remain structurally tight until Q1 2026, providing continued support for intermediate product prices.

The cobalt intermediate products market held up well this week, with limited overall changes. Suppliers firmly held prices firm, with the lowest market offers stabilizing around $24.0/lb, establishing a solid price floor. Overall demand remained stable; although some smelters had purchasing intentions, significant cost inversion—where raw material costs substantially exceeded cobalt salt selling prices—coupled with firm seller offers, led to persistently sluggish actual transactions, creating a clear "price without market" situation. Currently, export approval procedures in the DRC have not been completed, and actual exports of intermediate products have not resumed. Considering the approximately three-month shipping period to China, domestic cobalt raw material supply is expected to remain structurally tight until Q1 2026, providing continued support for intermediate product prices.

SMM New Energy Research Team

Cong Wang 021-51666838

Rui Ma 021-51595780

Disheng Feng 021-51666714

Yanlin Lü 021-20707875

Wenhao Xiao 021-51666872

Zhicheng Zhou 021-51666711

Data Source Statement: Except for publicly available information, all other data are processed by SMM based on publicly available information, market communication, and relying on SMM‘s internal database model. They are for reference only and do not constitute decision-making recommendations.

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