[SMM Weekly Review] The cobalt sulphate market stabilized overall this week, but presented a pattern driven by costs and marginal demand improvement.

The cobalt sulphate market stabilized overall this week, but presented a pattern driven by both cost factors and marginal demand improvement. On the supply side, supported by raw material production costs, smelters showed a strong willingness to hold prices firm: quotations for cobalt sulphate produced from MHP and recycled materials remained in the range of 88,000-90,000 yuan/mt, while quotations for cobalt sulphate made from intermediate products approached a high of 95,000 yuan/mt. On the demand side, purchase willingness strengthened, with some enterprises opting to accept low-priced old inventory from traders, while others began to trial high-priced new material from smelters. This split procurement behavior collectively pushed the transaction price center slightly higher. The market is currently still in a critical phase of negotiation between sellers and buyers, with price discrepancies persisting between upstream and downstream. In the short term, cobalt sulphate prices are expected to be generally stable with a slight rise. After downstream customers gradually digest the current price levels and initiate a new round of concentrated procurement, cobalt salt prices are anticipated to gain stronger momentum and resume an upward trend.

SMM New Energy Research Team

Wang Cong 021-51666838

Ma Rui 021-51595780

Feng Disheng 021-51666714

Lyu Yanlin 021-20707875

Xiao Wenhao 021-51666872

Zhou Zhicheng 021-51666711