Glencore’s decision on Wednesday 7 to shut its Mutanda copper-cobalt mine by the end of 2019 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) triggered an unusually high level of deals being concluded in the spot market while consumers and distributors sought to purchase material ahead of the end of the year.
The shutdown of Mutanda by the end of this year could alter the supply balance in the cobalt market in 2020. Consumers seeking material now to avoid paying higher prices towards the 2020; this complicated the gathering of pricing data from the market on Wednesday.
Fastmarkets assessed alloy grade and standard grade cobalt prices at $12.50-14 per lb and at $12.25-13.95 per lb, in-warehouse, on Wednesday August 7, both up from the previous assessment of $12.40-13 per lb and $12.20-13 per lb respectively.
To provide feedback on the delayed publication of the cobalt price assessment, please contact Martim Facada by email at pricing@fastmarkets.com. Please add the subject heading ‘Re: FAO: Martim Facada, delayed publication of cobalt price assessment.’
To see all Fastmarkets’ pricing methodology and specification documents go to www.fastmarkets.com/about-us/methodology.
