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Mid-Nickel",103.5,99.73,3.78,13.78,6.78,[518,519,520,522,524,526,528,530,532,534,536,538],{"date":213,"value":512},{"date":216,"value":513},{"date":219,"value":521},99.19,{"date":222,"value":523},96.02,{"date":225,"value":525},98.23,{"date":467,"value":527},99.24,{"date":329,"value":529},101.29,{"date":339,"value":531},87.61,{"date":341,"value":533},92.44,{"date":344,"value":535},90.96,{"date":347,"value":537},92.24,{"date":350,"value":539},95.09,{"id":541,"uuid":542,"name":543,"slug":544,"full_slug":545,"content":546,"relatedArticles":721,"relatedVideos":722},112470871095472,"5b63fa07-50a7-40dc-af30-dc276128f790","Cobalt’s brief price rally ends as logistical constraints ease, surplus continues","cobalts-brief-price-rally-ends-as-logistical-constraints-ease-surplus-continues","article/cobalts-brief-price-rally-ends-as-logistical-constraints-ease-surplus-continues",{"_uid":547,"date":548,"tags":549,"editor":556,"content":566,"excerpt":696,"featured":51,"reporter":697,"_editable":701,"component":702,"seo_title":543,"categories":703,"visibility":714,"author_company":49,"featured_image":715,"seo_description":696,"author_full_name":49,"author_job_title":49,"formattedDate":719,"formattedArticleDate":720},"0397297f-741c-44d4-9fb4-2925706fe5cf","2023-08-24 00:00",[550,553],{"slug":551,"name":552},"china","China",{"slug":554,"name":555},"cobalt-prices","Cobalt prices",[557],{"slug":558,"name":559,"content":560},"matthew-bird","Matthew Bird",{"job_title":561,"image":562,"bio":564,"linkedin":565},"Senior Editor - Supply Chains & Data Visualisation",{"filename":563},"https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/512x512/14738033ec/matthew-bird.jpeg","Matthew writes, edits and produces content for Benchmark Intelligence and Benchmark Source across the whole mine to grid supply chain. He also acts as a liaison to the press. He has a PhD in electrochemistry from the University of Nottingham.","https://www.linkedin.com/in/birdmatthew/",{"type":567,"content":568},"doc",[569,576,591,604,609,614,626,631,636,645,652,657,662,667,672,677,682,693],{"type":570,"attrs":571,"content":572},"paragraph",{"textAlign":49},[573],{"text":574,"type":575},"Cobalt hydroxide’s price rally that began in mid May has come to an end amid easing logistical constraints in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), recent indications of a slowdown in China, and a persistent surplus.","text",{"type":570,"attrs":577,"content":578},{"textAlign":49},[579,581,589],{"text":580,"type":575},"While cobalt prices fell across all grades, CIF Asia cobalt hydroxide registered the largest fall and were down 15% to $18,739 a tonne between 1 and 15 August , according to ",{"text":582,"type":575,"marks":583},"Benchmark’s Cobalt Price Assessment",[584],{"type":585,"attrs":586},"link",{"href":587,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":588},"https://www.benchmarkminerals.com/price-assessments/cobalt","url",{"text":590,"type":575},".",{"type":570,"attrs":592,"content":593},{"textAlign":49},[594,596,602],{"text":595,"type":575},"CIF Asia cobalt hydroxide prices had increased 34% from mid May until early August before falling again. The price rally was led by a combination of ",{"text":597,"type":575,"marks":598},"limited supply out of the DRC",[599],{"type":585,"attrs":600},{"href":601,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":588},"https://source.benchmarkminerals.com/article/cobalt-hydroxide-prices-rise-as-truck-shortages-slows-freight-out-of-drc",{"text":603,"type":575}," due to logistical constraints and a bullish position taken by traders due to that.  ",{"type":570,"attrs":605,"content":606},{"textAlign":49},[607],{"text":608,"type":575},"“After a few weeks, supplies from the DRC started to improve and there was more availability. There wasn’t really a reason to keep buying hydroxide as stocks across the supply chain are plentiful. Because still fundamentally, we are in an oversupply and there’s not a huge amount of demand when compared to that,” said Roman Aubry, an analyst at Benchmark.",{"type":570,"attrs":610,"content":611},{"textAlign":49},[612],{"text":613,"type":575},"“The price decline was compounded massively by the recent bearish sentiment from China. Some Chinese buyers and sellers are now in the mindset that the growth that they’ve been seeing for years isn’t really sustainable,” said Aubry, adding that in general, cobalt prices are very sentiment driven.",{"type":570,"attrs":615,"content":616},{"textAlign":49},[617,619,625],{"text":618,"type":575},"The market is expected to remain in a cobalt supply surplus until 2026 before entering an era of deficit from 2027 onwards, according to ",{"text":620,"type":575,"marks":621},"Benchmark’s Cobalt Forecast",[622],{"type":585,"attrs":623},{"href":624,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":588},"https://www.benchmarkminerals.com/forecasts/cobalt/",{"text":590,"type":575},{"type":570,"attrs":627,"content":628},{"textAlign":49},[629],{"text":630,"type":575},"Cobalt hydroxide prices are now down 30% from the end of 2022 primarily due to weaker downstream demand from the electric vehicle sector compared with last year.",{"type":570,"attrs":632,"content":633},{"textAlign":49},[634],{"text":635,"type":575},"According to Benchmark estimates, the DRC produces nearly all of the world’s cobalt hydroxide and roughly 12,500 tonnes of the crude feedstock leaves the region every month of which about 80% of the inventory is tied to contracts and the rest is available for spot transactions.",{"type":570,"attrs":637,"content":638},{"textAlign":49},[639],{"type":640,"attrs":641},"image",{"id":49,"alt":642,"src":643,"title":49,"source":49,"copyright":49,"meta_data":644},"","https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/1cccadb28b/bm-cobalt-hydroxide-price-chart-aug-15.png",{},{"type":646,"attrs":647,"content":649},"heading",{"level":648,"textAlign":49},4,[650],{"text":651,"type":575},"NCM weakness",{"type":570,"attrs":653,"content":654},{"textAlign":49},[655],{"text":656,"type":575},"Benchmark data shows that the majority of battery demand for cobalt comes from NCM (nickel, cathode, manganese) cathode materials, which are showing signs of weakness in China due to limited or smaller than expected growth that has resulted in a lower volume of sales. ",{"type":570,"attrs":658,"content":659},{"textAlign":49},[660],{"text":661,"type":575},"“In electric vehicles, a lower volume of sales translates directly into low NCM demand, which in turn snowballs into lower cobalt demand. But in China, LFP is becoming a more and more dominant part of the EV space,” said Aubry.",{"type":570,"attrs":663,"content":664},{"textAlign":49},[665],{"text":666,"type":575},"The growth of LFP chemistries cuts directly hits cobalt demand as it provides an alternative cobalt-free chemistry for electric vehicle batteries. With electric vehicle demand is expected to be the main driver of cobalt demand growth, developments in LFP could affect cobalt’s demand outlook.",{"type":646,"attrs":668,"content":669},{"level":648,"textAlign":49},[670],{"text":671,"type":575},"Ripple effect",{"type":570,"attrs":673,"content":674},{"textAlign":49},[675],{"text":676,"type":575},"Cobalt sulphate prices have also declined as weak downstream demand and falling hydroxide prices put pressure on producers.",{"type":570,"attrs":678,"content":679},{"textAlign":49},[680],{"text":681,"type":575},"“Since cobalt hydroxide goes into making cobalt sulphate, as hydroxide becomes cheaper it becomes difficult for sulphate producers to sell cobalt sulphate at a higher rate, as the higher prices become harder to justify. Some purchasers are buying sulphate instead of oxide to produce LCO (lithium cobalt oxide), as the sulphate price cut makes it more competitive,’ said Aubry.",{"type":570,"attrs":683,"content":684},{"textAlign":49},[685,687,692],{"text":686,"type":575},"Chinese cobalt sulphate prices fell 9.2% to $5,412 per tonne in the period under review, and are down 24% so far this year, according to ",{"text":582,"type":575,"marks":688},[689],{"type":585,"attrs":690},{"href":691,"uuid":49,"anchor":49,"target":49,"linktype":588},"https://www.benchmarkminerals.com/price-assessments/cobalt/",{"text":590,"type":575},{"type":570,"attrs":694,"content":695},{"textAlign":49},[],"Cobalt hydroxide’s price rally that began in mid May has come to an end amid easing logistical constraints in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), recent indications of a slowdown in China, and a persistent surplus. While cobalt prices fell across all grades, CIF Asia cobalt hydroxide registered the largest fall and were down 15% […]",[698],{"slug":558,"name":559,"content":699},{"job_title":561,"image":700,"bio":564,"linkedin":565},{"filename":563},"\u003C!--#storyblok#{\"name\": \"article\", \"space\": \"\", \"uid\": \"0397297f-741c-44d4-9fb4-2925706fe5cf\", \"id\": \"\"}-->","article",[704,707,709,711],{"slug":705,"name":706},"batteries","Batteries",{"slug":708,"name":298},"cathode",{"slug":710,"name":115},"cobalt",{"slug":712,"name":713},"critical-minerals","Critical Minerals","private",{"id":49,"alt":642,"name":642,"focus":642,"title":642,"source":642,"filename":716,"copyright":642,"fieldtype":717,"meta_data":718,"is_external_url":51},"https://a.storyblok.com/f/287943243085208/7fba52e9ba/bm-cobalt-harry-fisher.jpg","asset",{"alt":642,"title":642,"source":642,"copyright":642},"Aug 24, 2023","24th August 2023",[],[],1784052281203]