Cobalt Chloride: Rigid Shortage of Raw Materials Supports High Prices

This week, the overall trading atmosphere in the domestic cobalt chloride market cooled down WoW, but the underlying tight supply-demand structure did not fundamentally change. The mainstream market transaction price held steady in the range of 110,000-113,000 yuan/mt. Raw material supply tightness has become the norm. Currently, inventory held by traders and recycling enterprises is already at low levels, and raw material inventory for small and medium-sized smelters is expected to be depleted between December this year and January next year. In contrast, leading producers have relatively sufficient inventory, ensuring no issues with Q1 next year supply, and their general offer price rose to 115,000 yuan/mt. Although market activity decreased slightly, most downstream enterprises, to mitigate medium and long-term supply risks, continued to implement purchase and stockpiling strategies, leading to a continuous accumulation of in-factory inventory. Currently, the market's purchase willingness price floor has basically moved up to above 110,000 yuan/mt. Overall, after a previous round of price increases, the cobalt chloride market has entered a new phase of balance and wait-and-see between upstream and downstream, and prices are expected to mainly operate steadily at high levels in the short term.

SMM New Energy Research Team

Wang Cong 021-51666838

Ma Rui 021-51595780

Feng Disheng 021-51666714

Lyu Yanlin 021-20707875

Zhou Zhicheng 021-51666711