The price of cobalt metal in the Chinese domestic market continued to fall in the mid-week assessment on Wednesday March 20 amid persistent weakness in the international benchmark price, which more than offset an uptick in spot trading activity.
Fastmarkets assessed the price of cobalt metal, min 99.8%, in China's domestic market at 255,000-290,000 yuan ($38,039-43,261) per tonne on March 20, widening downward by 5,000 yuan per tonne from 260,000-290,000 yuan per tonne previously. The latest assessed range is equivalent to approximately $14.89-16.92 per lb, excluding China's value-added tax (VAT).After a brief stabilization in early March, the Chinese domestic blue metal price resumed its downward trend after the international cobalt benchmark price began a new round of sharp price falls in the middle of March. Fastmarkets' standard-grade cobalt price suffered a further loss during the mid-week assessment on March 20, sliding to $13.30-14.25 per lb from $13.90-14.85 per lb on March 15. The 4.2% decline on March 20 follows a similar drop on March 13."It seemed like the downswing [in the international cobalt metal price] had slowed down,...