Benchmark prices for cobalt metal and payables for intermediates are largely holding on to modest gains made in recent weeks, with sellers happy to hold out for higher numbers, despite only cautious restocking.
Fastmarkets' cobalt hydroxide payable indicator min 30% Co, cif China held at 67-69.5% of the standard-grade cobalt price (low-end) on Wednesday March 4, where it has been since February 19.
Hydroxide payables were at 65-67% of the metal price at the end of January, according to Fastmarkets' assessment, and found support after the Lunar New Year when refineries restocked amid logistical concerns created by the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak and found tight nearby availability.
Buyers have continued to take a more hesitant approach to purchases over the past week, concerned that cobalt sulfate prices may continue to fall, and that refinery margins will have been eroded by the time their feedstock as arrived.