[SMM Weekly Review] Spot Refined Cobalt Prices Rose Rapidly This Week

Published: Dec 25, 2025 15:43

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This week, spot prices for refined cobalt rose rapidly. Supply side, supported by raw material costs, smelters' ex-factory prices held steady; as the year-end approached, traders, facing enterprise requirements to control capital occupation and positions, showed weak willingness to sell, only serving core customers. Demand side, there was no significant change, maintaining just-in-time procurement pace. The rapid spot price increase this week was mainly due to two factors: first, refined cobalt prices were relatively low compared to other cobalt products, leading to a valuation correction; second, prior to this week, there was a price spread of nearly 10,000 yuan/mt between the December and January cobalt futures contracts on the electronic platform, and as the December contract gradually began delivery this week, the spread needed to converge. In the short term, driven by the spread convergence, spot prices for refined cobalt are expected to gradually rise and fluctuate within the range of 420,000–430,000 yuan/mt, awaiting the next upward catalyst.

Spot prices for refined cobalt rose rapidly this week. Supply side, supported by raw material costs, smelters maintained stable ex-factory prices; as the year-end approached, traders, facing enterprise requirements to control capital occupation and inventory positions, showed a weak willingness to sell, only serving core clients. Demand side saw no significant changes, continuing to maintain a just-in-time procurement pace. The rapid price increase this week was mainly due to two factors: first, refined cobalt prices were relatively low compared to other cobalt products, leading to a valuation correction; second, prior to this week, there was a price spread of nearly 10,000 yuan between the December and January futures contracts on the electronic trading platform. As the December contract gradually began delivery this week, the spread needed to converge. In the short term, driven by the spread convergence, spot prices for refined cobalt are expected to gradually rise and fluctuate within the range of 420,000-430,000 yuan/mt, awaiting the next upward catalyst.

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

Zhaoyu Wang 021-51666827

Haohan Zhang 021-51666752

Zihan Wang 021-51666914

Jie Wang 021-51595902

Yang Xu 021-51666760

Lianting Yang 021-51595835

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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