The price of cobalt metal in China has played a quick game of catch-up with international prices following the Chinese New Year break (February 15-21), with a strong rally seen since the start of this week on increased speculative buying.
China's cobalt metal price jumped to 620,000-650,000 yuan per tonne (equivalent to $38.03-39.8 per lb, ex-China value-added tax) on Wednesday March 1, up 2.4% from 600,000-640,000 yuan per tonne a week ago.Speculative buying rather than actual demand was behind the price increase following the holiday break, according to market participants, who added that several downstream sectors have yet to resume normal operations.Meanwhile, the futures market has also given an upbeat performance since participants returned from the Chinese New Year break."The futures price jumped higher than the official quotation for Jinchuan cobalt, [the...