China's cobalt metal price consolidated gains made since late August on Friday October 11 due to weak demand and falling futures prices following the week-long national holiday break.
Fastmarkets' assessment for cobalt 99.8% Co min, exw China dropped to 295,000-310,000 yuan per tonne (approx $16.72-17.57 per lb, China-VAT free) on Friday, down by 2.4% from the midweek pricing session. Spot demand has not fully resumed in the first week after the National Day holiday on October 1-7, particularly because most consumers restocked adequate units ahead of the holiday. Meanwhile, a sharp drop in the cobalt price on the local futures platform damaged prompt buying appetite. The most-traded November cobalt contract on the Wuxi Stainless Steel Exchange dropped to 266,500 yuan per tonne at the close on Friday, compared with 283,500 yuan per tonne on September 30. Market participants attributed...