As the dust settles in Washington and Americans wake up to news that Donald Trump is once again president-elect, participants in the cobalt market discuss the wider ramifications on a crucial coming four years for the electric vehicle (EV) industry.

The world’s largest cobalt producer has cemented its place at the top with the release of a third-quarter financial report highlighting the company has smashed through its full-year production guidance with three months to go.

Imports of cobalt intermediates have continued to rise in China, with January-September volumes already exceeding that of the entire previous year. This excessive inflow has led to an enduring oversupply in the domestic cobalt market, sources have told Fastmarkets

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

Fastmarkets is inviting feedback from the industry on the methodology for its audited non-ferrous price assessments and indices, as part of its announced annual methodology review process.

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

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.

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

Signals of oversupply are caused by newly signed contracts and delays in seaborne logistics, said cobalt traders