[SMM Weekly Review] Smelters Leverage the Situation to Raise Prices, Buying Interest Lags, Awaiting Restocking in January to Restart the Rising Cycle

Spot cobalt sulphate prices edged up this week, but overall trading remained sluggish. Driven by the continuous rise in refined cobalt prices, smelters' bullish sentiment intensified, with medium-to-high nickel cobalt sulphate offers rising to 92,000-94,000 yuan/mt and low nickel cobalt sulphate offers reaching 95,000-97,000 yuan/mt. Demand remained relatively quiet, as downstream enterprises showed low acceptance of high-priced cobalt sulphate, with most companies' target prices still hovering around 90,000-93,000 yuan/mt, and only sporadic restocking for rigid demand. Overall, low-priced old cobalt sulphate cargoes in the market have been largely depleted. After downstream enterprises resume a new round of procurement in January, prices are expected to gain further upward momentum.

SMM New Energy Research Team

Wang Cong 021-51666838

Ma Rui 021-51595780

Feng Disheng 021-51666714

Lu Yanlin 021-20707875

Xiao Wenhao 021-51666872

Zhang Haohan 021-51666752

Wang Zihan 021-51666914

Wang Jie 021-51595902

Xu Yang 021-51666760

Yang Lianting 021-51595835

Wang Zhaoyu 021-51666827