Spot cobalt hydroxide prices retreat amid slack buying interest

Cobalt hydroxide payables gave back some of their February gains this past week, with post-Lunar New Year restocking being replaced by more cautious buying while market participants expect the spread of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCov) to dent global economic growth, and with it, cobalt consumption.

Fastmarkets' cobalt hydroxide payable indicator, min 30% Co, cif China was at 67-69% of the standard-grade cobalt price (low-end) on Wednesday March 11, narrowing downward from 67-69.5% a week earlier and ending two weeks of stability.
Market sources reported cheaper bids, and noted that on the whole buyers were not in a rush to book fresh material.
"Buyers are looking for 65%, but I think they'll have to come up and hit the 67% offers - a lot of sellers liquidated into the rally," a distributor source said. "Consumers are waiting to see how it all shakes out."

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