Refined Cobalt: Funds Drive Spot Cargo Prices to Surge Rapidly, Smelters Hold Back from Selling, Demand-Side Wait-and-See Sentiment Intensifies

Published: Dec 31, 2025 15:32

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This week, spot prices for refined cobalt rose rapidly. On the supply side, raw materials were tight, with smelters refraining from offering quotes or making shipments. After the electronic trading platform surged, traders' willingness to cash in increased, while stockpilers sought to take profits. Some hedging positions actively released shipments due to margin call pressure, leading to a gradual decline in the spot-futures price spread in the trading sector, with some cargo offers deeply discounted. On the demand side, alloy and magnetic material plants faced losses as end-user prices failed to keep pace with the increase, prompting them to postpone purchases amid strong wait-and-see sentiment. This round of price increases may have been driven by speculative sentiment, with no substantial improvement in fundamentals. Caution is warranted against the risk of price fluctuations and a pullback in the future.

This week, spot prices for refined cobalt rose rapidly. On the supply side, raw materials were tight, with smelters refraining from offering quotes or making shipments. After the electronic trading platform surged, traders' willingness to cash in increased, and stockpilers sought to take profits. Some hedging positions actively released cargo due to margin call pressures, causing the spot-futures price spread in the trading sector to gradually narrow, with some cargo offers deeply discounted. On the demand side, alloy and magnetic material plants faced losses as end-user prices had not risen in sync, leading them to postpone purchases amid strong wait-and-see sentiment. This round of price increases may have been driven by capital sentiment, with no substantial improvement in fundamentals, warranting caution against the risk of a price pullback in the future.

SMM New Energy Research Team

Wang Cong 021-51666838

Ma Rui 021-51595780

Feng Disheng 021-51666714

Lü Yanlin 021-20707875

Xiao Wenhao 021-51666872

Wang Zhaoyu 021-51666827

Zhang Haohan 021-51666752

Wang Zihan 021-51666914

Wang Jie 021-51595902

Xu Yang 021-51666760

Yang Lianting 021-51595835

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