Spot Chinese cobalt salts prices, including those for cobalt tetroxide and sulfate, softened this week against a backdrop of weakening demand for lithium cobalt oxide (LCO) batteries for the rest of the year.
Fastmarkets assessed the price for cobalt tetroxide 72.6% Co min, delivered China at 210,000-220,000 yuan ($30,730-32,194) per tonne on Wednesday September 2, down by 5,000-10,000 yuan per tonne (3.4%) from 220,000-225,000 yuan per tonne on August 28. Prior to that, the spot price had been stable for nearly two weeks after falling from this year's high at 220,000-230,000 yuan per tonne on August 14.Cobalt demand from the consumer electronics sector recovered quicker than expected during the second and early parts of the third quarter due to the increased use of personal computers as a result of remote working and learning becoming more prevalent...