FOCUS: South Africa's Covid-19 lockdown underlines over-dependencies in cobalt supply chain

South Africa's 21-day lockdown aimed at curbing the spread of the Covid-19 virus has highlighted the cobalt market's dependence on the shipping route out of Durban.

South Africa entered the lockdown - initially for three weeks - on Thursday March 26, creating uncertainty over loading at ports, including Durban, which is frequently used for the shipment of Democratic Republic of the Congo-mined cobalt hydroxide to Asia.
Cobalt suppliers have, therefore, been looking at alternative shipping routes to minimize their exposure to delays in loading and shipment out of South Africa, or protracted border or port closures stemming from the lockdown.
"There are a lot of doubts about whether you can make shipments in April, maybe into May," a supplier source said.
"Hopefully the South Africa situation will be relatively short-lived, but it's still a massive short-term supply disruption. There's going to be a big backlog," a second supplier said.

As long as the South Africa lockdown stands at three weeks, some are considering sitting it out, especially since Chinese demand for cobalt hydroxide had thinned in...

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