It’s cobalt’s time to shine, Macquarie says

Cobalt seems to be making a comeback. Current spot prices of around US$17 per lb. are well above the US$10 per lb. mark of late 2015 and the metal’s steady march higher has been mirrored by moves in the price of cobalt tetroxide, a chemical used in the rechargeable battery industry, a new research report says. Macquarie Capital notes that prices of cobalt tetroxide in China “have roughly doubled in renminbi terms since mid-2016, suggesting battery demand has been improving.” “If last year was lithium’s time, for 2017 its battery peer cobalt may be the one receiving more attention,” Colin Hamilton, a London-based commodities analyst at Macquarie Capital writes. “Prices have accelerated to levels last seen in 2011, and with demand from the core portable electronics sector recovering and supply growth relatively stagnant, this can be fundamentally justified.” China has virtually no domestic supply of the metal, Hamilton adds, and relies on the politically risky jurisdiction of the Democratic Republic of Congo for its supply of the metal. China only produces about 3% of its cobalt requirements, and of the 54,000 tonnes of cobalt it imported last year, 48,000 tonnes came from the DRC. Read the entire story at The Northern Miner.