The Chinese domestic price of cobalt metal surged in the first half of this week amid tightened supply and robust demand from the battery supply chain.
Fastmarkets' assessment of cobalt 99.8% Co min, ex-works China rose to 390,000-420,000 yuan ($60,450-65,100) per tonne (approximately $24.26-26.13 per lb less China value-added tax) on Wednesday February 24, up by 11.3% from 358,000-370,000 yuan per tonne on Friday February 19. The assessment is at its highest level since November 2018.Spot supply is being squeezed because major metal producers are still delivering metal to the country's State Reserve Bureau. Meanwhile, some producers have cut metal output because higher sales prices for cobalt salts, due to spot cobalt raw materials tightness, is prompting them to allocate more raw materials to...