The price of standard-grade cobalt has fallen to its lowest so far this year in the week ending Friday September 20, on slow demand and continued oversupply.

Critical metal refiner Nth Cycle became the first company in the US to produce premium nickel-cobalt mixed hydroxide precipitate (MHP) this week, when it began commercial-scale operations on Monday September 9

Delays in US policy support for its domestic anode supply chain have made investment decisions harder, even as expectations for a medium-term supply shortage persist, Shaun Verner, chief executive officer of Australia-listed Syrah Resources, told Fastmarkets in an interview in August

The move to place tariffs on electric vehicles (EVs) imported from China by many countries to varying degrees has resulted in changing trade flows and affected supply chains. Looking at the trade data however, not much has changed yet with EVs still arriving on European shores in volume.

Fastmarkets has compiled a unique, comprehensive overview of electric vehicle (EV) import duties across key markets, including policy announcements, illustrating the disparities and shifting approaches.

CMOC expects its growth rate of cobalt supply to gradually ease in the second half of 2024, the company said on August 23. Market participants, however, were divided in their response to the announcement, with some expecting the output reduction to alleviate the current imbalance between supply and demand in parts of the market.

Spodumene prices rose on Wednesday September 11 after reports of a potential production suspension in China’s Jiangxi province drove up lithium carbonate futures prices on China’s Guangzhou Futures Exchange (GFEX).

Read Fastmarkets' monthly battery raw materials market update for September 2024, focusing on raw materials including lithium, cobalt, nickel, graphite and more

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