The London Metal Exchange will extend the waiver of listing fees for new cobalt brands until December 20, 2019, it said on September 24.
The exchange launched the initiative on March 26 this year, initially for six months, in an effort to encourage
liquidity on its physically delivered cobalt contract.
Since then,
Norilsk grade-I cut cobalt cathodes and
Huayou cut cobalt cathodes have been listed as deliverable against the LME's physically-delivered cobalt contract.
The LME also launched a cash-settled cobalt contract in March this year, settled against
Fastmarkets' industry-benchmark standard-grade cobalt price assessment, to better reflect the day-to-day operating of the cobalt market.
Fastmarkets last assessed the price of
cobalt, standard-grade, in whs Rotterdam at $17.40-18.10 per lb on September 20, moving up on the low end from $17.25-18.10 per lb on September 18. Prices are next due to be assessed later today on September 25.