PRICING NOTICE: Amendment of China cobalt sulfate, ex-works standard-grade adjustment calculation

On April 1, 2019, Fastmarkets adopted China’s latest VAT rate for the manufacturing sector of 13% in its daily physical arbitrage calculation for imports of the above metal. Previously, a VAT rate of 16% was used as per this pricing notice.

The formula to calculate the adjustment is now as follows (with change in bold):

a. China cobalt sulfate price/1.13/forex rate/2,204.62 = China cobalt sulfate, ex-works, $/lb
b. Fastmarkets standard-grade low-end price x 0.205 = Fastmarkets low-grade cobalt low-end price at Co 20.5% basis, $/lb

Final premium/discount, $/lb = a-b

The specification, delivery terms and publication timing of this price is unchanged, and are as below:

Price: China cobalt sulfate, Co 20.5% min, ex-works, adjustment to standard-grade cobalt low-end price at Co 20.5% basis, $/lb
Currency/unit: USD per lb
Dimensions: crystal; feed from cobalt ores & concentrates, cobalt intermediates, such as crude cobalt hydroxide (materials produced from cobalt scrap are excluded); Co: 20.5% min, Ni: 0.001% max, Cu: 0.001% max, Fe: 0.001% max, Zn: 0.001% max
Quantity: one tonne
Payment terms: on bank acceptance (other payment normalized)
Timing: within 30 days
Publication: twice a week on Wednesday and Friday, between 2pm and 3pm London time

The amendment will take place on Wednesday April 3.

Meanwhile, Fastmarkets has proposed to change the calculation basis for the China cobalt sulfate, Co 20.5% min, ex-works adjustment to the standard-grade cobalt low-end price to 100% Co basis from the current Co 20.5% basis. Subject to a one-month consultation, which ends on April 5, the amendment will take place on April 10. Click here to take part in the consultation.

If you have any queries or feedback concerning the details of the China cobalt sulfate price assessment detailed above, or would like to contribute to the price discovery process, please contact Susan Zou by email at: pricing@fastmarkets.com. Please add the subject heading ‘FAO: Susan Zou, re: China cobalt sulfate price assessment.’

To see all Fastmarkets’ pricing methodology and specification documents go to https://www.metalbulletin.com/prices/pricing-methodology.html