Summary
Cobalt spot price news - Spot prices rise 18.7% in the past month as inventory falls. The cobalt spot price is now over USD 40/lb, and approaching USD 100,000/tonne.
Cobalt market news - China leaving West behind in race for electric-car raw materials. Battery makers descend on Australia, Canada cobalt developers.
Design News - "Cobalt will remain an expensive but necessary ingredient in our battery energy future."
VW secures $25 billion battery supplies in electric-car surge.
Cobalt miner news - China's GEM had agreed to buy 52,000 tonnes of cobalt from Glencore over 3 years.
The past month has indeed seen the great cobalt rush intensify, triggered in part by Volkswagen (OTCPK:VLKAY) (more below). Or as Cobalt Blue (OTCPK:CBBHF) CEO Joe Kaderavek says - “We are starting to see the first signs of an arms race to secure long term cobalt supplies.” Added to this, cobalt prices moved above USD 40/lb and is fast approaching USD 100,000/tonne.
The deal fever was kicked off this month with Volkswagen announcing a stunning $25b battery supply deal from Samsung SDI Co., LG Chem Ltd. and Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd [CATL]. Then Samsung C&T Corp (an affiliate of Samsung (OTC:SSNLF)) announced it is working on a cobalt deal with Somika SPRL, followed by China's GEM large cobalt deal with Glencore (OTCPK:GLNCY), and finally Cobalt Blue announced a new strategic partnership with LG. This follows the recent SK Innovation deal with Australia Mines. What a month! Cobalt price news
As of March 22, the cobalt spot price was US$43.09, an 18.7% increase from US$36.29 this time last month. The LME cobalt price has now reached ~95,000/tonne and is closing in on USD 100,000/tonne. The London Metals Exchange [LME] inventory has continued to fall and is slightly lower this month.
Cobalt demand and supply
Investing News states that Macquarie Bank forecasts "a deficit of 885 tonnes is expected in 2018, with deficits of 3,205 tonnes and 5,340 tonnes expected in 2019 and 2020, respectively."
Cobalt market news
On February 20, Mining Weekly reported, "Eramet eyes expansion in electric vehicle metals. The French mining group is looking to expand in minerals like cobalt, lithium and nickel salts linked to energy transition markets like electric vehicles. Eramet is actively looking at acquisition targets after previously acquiring a lithium deposit in Argentina. "We're in a phase of studying opportunities to acquire resources in cobalt, primary lithium and nickel salts. Eramet is a major producer of nickel but does not currently produce nickel sulphate, a nickel salt used in making batteries."
On February 23, CNBC reported: "Why companies are scrambling for the once little-known element cobalt. The once little-known element cobalt is rapidly rising in price, and some warn shortages could hit the metal in the future. The proliferation of lithium-ion batteries, of which cobalt is a key ingredient, in electronics and electrified vehicles is the chief factor fueling this rise in price and concerns among companies over the security of their supplies. Apple is reportedly trying to procure its cobalt directly from miners. Automakers such as BMW and Volkswagen have also reportedly been taking similar steps. Demand for cobalt in vehicle battery materials is expected to grow over 40 percent in 2018, according to U.K.-based cobalt trading firm Darton Commodities. "There isn't a better element than nickel to increase energy density, and there isn't a better element than cobalt to make the stuff stable," said Marc Grynberg, CEO of materials company Umicore (OTCPK:UMICF) (OTCPK:UMICY), in an interview with Reuters. "So (while) you hear about designing out cobalt, this is not going to happen in the next three decades. It simply doesn't work."
On March 21, FTChinese reported, "Glencore chief warns carmakers of cobalt supply crunch. Western carmakers have yet to wake up to the limited supply of cobalt and risk being left behind by their Chinese rivals, according to the chief executive of the world’s biggest producer of the battery metal. “The motor car industry hasn’t woken up to the fact, I don’t think, how important cobalt is and how ‘tight’ cobalt is,” Mr Glasenberg told the FT Commodities Global Summit in Lausanne."
On March 22, The Economist wrote, "What if China corners the cobalt market? Four-fifths of the cobalt sulphates and oxides used to make the all-important cathodes for lithium-ion batteries are refined in China."
In the March Fortune Minerals presentation, they quote (page 13), "Bernstein predicts sustained period of cobalt prices in excess of last peak in 2008 (~US$48/lb) needed to stimulate new discoveries to meet “most significant demand-pull in the history of cobalt industry.”
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