SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST -- The price of lithium, a soft silvery white metal usually mined from brines, has soared by more than 300 per cent in the past two years. The price of cobalt, mostly mined as a by-product of nickel and copper, surged 129 per cent last year while nickel surged 4.6 per cent to a two-year high in London.

At the centre of the boom is China’s support for developing electric vehicles (EV) to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.

METAL BULLETIN -- Both Chinese cobalt metal and salts prices trended lower at the midweek pricing session due to weak demand and an urgency among sellers to square books at the half-year end.

Metal Bulletin’s Chinese cobalt metal price narrowed to 540,000-550,000 yuan per tonne (approximately $31.99-32.59 per lb, China VAT-free) on Wednesday June 27 from 540,000-560,000 yuan per tonne on June 22. ​

MINING WEEKLY -- More than 30 Chinese companies active in the Democratic Republic of Congo formed a business association backed by both countries’ governments, further cementing China’s ascendancy in copper and cobalt production in the central African nation.

The 35-member Union of Mining Companies with Chinese Capital will facilitate “communication and exchange between the Chinese mining companies and the government of our country,” Cheng Yonghong, the group’s president, said at an inauguration event in Lubumbashi in southeast Congo on June 16. The group, known by the French acronym USMCC, was founded at the initiative of China’s embassy and on the advice of Congo’s mines minister, he said.

BLOOMBERG -- A slump in cobalt prices and the shares of Chinese refiners may provide an ideal bargain-hunting opportunity for investors seeking a piece of the action as Asia’s top economy leads a global boom in electric vehicles.
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Cobalt sulfate, a chemical used in batteries, has dropped more than 20 percent since April, while the form of the metal used in high-tech alloys is down 15 percent after prices hit the highest level since 2008. Supply concerns are easing for now, but the longer-term picture remains positive as China scrambles to roll out electric vehicles to reduce roadside pollution.

COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS -- The market for cobalt has exploded in recent years, with demand driven by the surge in production of batteries for electric cars. Its strategic importance will only grow, experts say, as carmakers aggressively scale up production of electric vehicles in the decades ahead.

The boom has focused attention on cobalt’s complex and controversial supply chain. In particular, the dominant roles played by both China and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have raised major concerns about ensuring supply of this increasingly valuable commodity.​

MINING TECHNOLOGY -- Through various arrangements, China already controls around 85% of the global supply of cobalt and is rumoured to be in the market for more; but what does this mean for the availability of a key commodity that has already rocketed in price by 260% since Jan 2016? Heidi Vella investigates.
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The blueish-grey chemical element cobalt has emerged from relative obscurity to reach notoriety as a key component of lithium-ion batteries – the technology required to power the smart technology revolution.

Currently, the electric battery market only accounts for around 10% of total cobalt usage, but that number is rapidly rising in line with sales of electric vehicles (EV), which rose 58% globally in 2017, according to Darton Commodities. This was primarily driven by China, where 600,000 EVs were sold, compared with 200,000 in the US.

MINING.COM -- Cobalt is facing its first major test since an impending demand boom from electric vehicles triggered a two-year surge, with prices retreating in top consumer China amid signs there’s still enough material to go around.
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The price for cobalt sulfate — the chemical form used in car batteries and consumer electronics — fell last week to its lowest since January, and is down more than 20 percent from an April peak, according to researcher Asian Metal Inc. Meanwhile, benchmark cobalt metal is also softening after reaching the highest level in a decade earlier this year, Metal Bulletin data show.

THE BALANCE -- Cobalt, which is primarily extracted as a by-product of nickel and copper ores, is mined in large quantities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, China, Russia, Canada and Australia.

Cobalt refineries, however, are rarely located near the source mine sites. Instead, major refiners purchase cobalt concentrate from various mines and ship to their own locations.

Here are some of the top producers of cobalt worldwide.