Cobalt market summary Mar 10-14
2008-03-17 11:14:06 【Print】
BEIJING (Asian Metal) 17 Mar 08 - Cobalt market starts to recede slightly in China due to weak demand from downstream industries. However, the European and US market continues to be good with strong prices.
The Russian Norilsk Nickel raises its cobalt price from USD47.00/lb to USD48.50/lb on Monday after selling 70t of cobalt in previous week.
Meanwhile, cobalt price on the Australian BHP Billiton screen remains stable at around USD52.50/lb early in the week and then retreated to USD52.25/lb after BHP sold less than five tons at USD52.25/lb to Asia. And this has been its first sale after February 19.
However, people generally believe the international market continues to be strong and in good demand from every aspect. And the price increases from USD47.50-48.50/lb to USD48.00-49.00/lb for 99.3%min cobalt and from USD49.50-50.50/lb to USD50.00-52.00/lb for 99.8%min. But as BHP starts to lower its price, participants cannot help wondering that the real demand is suppressed by the high prices.
In China, cobalt market is very sluggish during the week. Demand from downstream industries, not only battery but also other chemical industries, has not seen considerable improvement. Consumers prefer use up materials bought in previous months to increase purchase. As a result, some suppliers are forced to lower prices to empty stocks, in order to get money quickly. Participants believe the whole cobalt market will probably start to adjust in the coming weeks.
Cobalt cathode price reduces from RMB840-860/kg (USD44.11-45.16/lb) to about RMB830-850/kg (USD44.01-44.64/lb) due to the weak demand. Still having enough materials to use, consumers from magnet materials and chemical industries tend to watch the market for the time being. Some suppliers who are not confident about the future market start to lower prices.
Suppliers lowers cobalt chloride price from RMB186-188/kg (USD26.20-26.48/kg) to RMB183-185/kg (USD25.77-26.06/kg) for lack of cash. On the one hand, demand remains weak from cobalt tetroxide industry is unlikely to increase in a short time; on the other hand, those suppliers hold lots of stock and also need to pay high prices of cobalt concentrates which rose from USD34-35/lb to USD37-38/lb after the Spring Festival. Participants believe inventories of cobalt salts and concentrate are high, so cobalt price will not increase in a short time.
Cobalt tetroxide market has not seen any big improvement after since early February. Only a few deals are concluded at around RMB600/kg (USD84.51/kg) and due to the weak demand some producers are ready to lower prices to strike a deal.
There is no exception for cobalt monoxide market. Although the price remains stable at around RMB680-690/kg (USD95.77-97.18/kg), few deals are reported during the week as most consumers still sit on inventories accumulated in previous months.
As some cobalt product prices start to go down, participants believe the whole market will remain sluggish this March.
The Russian Norilsk Nickel raises its cobalt price from USD47.00/lb to USD48.50/lb on Monday after selling 70t of cobalt in previous week.
Meanwhile, cobalt price on the Australian BHP Billiton screen remains stable at around USD52.50/lb early in the week and then retreated to USD52.25/lb after BHP sold less than five tons at USD52.25/lb to Asia. And this has been its first sale after February 19.
However, people generally believe the international market continues to be strong and in good demand from every aspect. And the price increases from USD47.50-48.50/lb to USD48.00-49.00/lb for 99.3%min cobalt and from USD49.50-50.50/lb to USD50.00-52.00/lb for 99.8%min. But as BHP starts to lower its price, participants cannot help wondering that the real demand is suppressed by the high prices.
In China, cobalt market is very sluggish during the week. Demand from downstream industries, not only battery but also other chemical industries, has not seen considerable improvement. Consumers prefer use up materials bought in previous months to increase purchase. As a result, some suppliers are forced to lower prices to empty stocks, in order to get money quickly. Participants believe the whole cobalt market will probably start to adjust in the coming weeks.
Cobalt cathode price reduces from RMB840-860/kg (USD44.11-45.16/lb) to about RMB830-850/kg (USD44.01-44.64/lb) due to the weak demand. Still having enough materials to use, consumers from magnet materials and chemical industries tend to watch the market for the time being. Some suppliers who are not confident about the future market start to lower prices.
Suppliers lowers cobalt chloride price from RMB186-188/kg (USD26.20-26.48/kg) to RMB183-185/kg (USD25.77-26.06/kg) for lack of cash. On the one hand, demand remains weak from cobalt tetroxide industry is unlikely to increase in a short time; on the other hand, those suppliers hold lots of stock and also need to pay high prices of cobalt concentrates which rose from USD34-35/lb to USD37-38/lb after the Spring Festival. Participants believe inventories of cobalt salts and concentrate are high, so cobalt price will not increase in a short time.
Cobalt tetroxide market has not seen any big improvement after since early February. Only a few deals are concluded at around RMB600/kg (USD84.51/kg) and due to the weak demand some producers are ready to lower prices to strike a deal.
There is no exception for cobalt monoxide market. Although the price remains stable at around RMB680-690/kg (USD95.77-97.18/kg), few deals are reported during the week as most consumers still sit on inventories accumulated in previous months.
As some cobalt product prices start to go down, participants believe the whole market will remain sluggish this March.
