ArrowMetals will become a seller of nickel sulfate after agreeing a tolling arrangement with Cyprus refinery Hellenic Minerals to produce battery-grade material.

Freight Investor Services (FIS) completed the first brokered trade of the CME Group’s cash-settled cobalt futures contract on Thursday January 7, the company told Fastmarkets.

The publication of Fastmarkets’ cobalt hydroxide payable indicator, min 30% Co, cif China, was delayed on December 23 because of a reporting error.

A reminder of Fastmarkets’ cobalt pricing schedule during the Christmas and New Year period.

China’s Tianqi Lithium’s wholly-owned subsidiary Tianqi Lithium Energy Australia Pty Ltd (TLEA) has brought in new strategic investor Australia-listed IGO Ltd as a 49% stakeholder, with both parties signing an initial investment agreement on Wednesday December 9.

Swiss miner-trader Glencore and Chinese battery materials producer GEM have extended their agreement for cobalt hydroxide supply by another five years.

It has been almost one year since the start of the Covid-19 outbreak and global economies are still recovering from the fallout. Fastmarkets analyzes the effects of the pandemic on global cobalt supply and trade flows.

Commodities trader Trafigura and local government body Entreprise Générale du Cobalt (EGC) have penned an offtake agreement specifically for the supply of artisanal cobalt in a deal designed to concurrently formalize the sector.

Fastmarkets has partnered with CME Group to launch a cash-settled cobalt contract to be settled against Fastmarkets’ daily benchmark cobalt price assessment.

Fastmarkets, the industry-leading cross-commodity PRA, announced on Thursday November 19 that CME Group has chosen Fastmarkets as the PRA for its new cash-settled cobalt futures contract, which will launch on December 14, pending regulatory review. The new contract will be listed on and subject to the rules of COMEX and settled against the benchmark daily standard-grade cobalt price assessed by Fastmarkets.