Delegates at the Cobalt Congress conference in Istanbul, Turkey, held May 9-11, discussed expectations and developments in the global cobalt market following a volatile 12 months. Here are four key takeaways

Resource nationalism in Western economies was expected to be a major driver of investment in the cobalt supply chain in the second half of this decade

Li-Cycle more than doubled its production of black mass in the first quarter of 2023 thanks to its new and upgraded electric vehicle (EV) battery recycling “spokes” in the United States

China’s automotive output and sales dropped in April 2023 versus the prior month, with both largely subdued by general caution among consumers that had been fueled by the price wars in the automotive sector during the month

Cobalt continues to be a key component for electric vehicle (EV) batteries, with nickel cobalt manganese oxide (NCM) remaining the key battery chemistry amid the growing market share of lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries

Luxembourg-headquartered Wave Nickel is investing close to $300 million to make nickel-cobalt mixed hydroxide precipitate (MHP) in Midwestern Brazil with a new proprietary microwave technology, it told Fastmarkets

Chinese lithium producer Tianqi Lithium plans to establish a battery-grade lithium hydroxide project with capacity of 30,000 tonnes per year in Zhangjiagang, Suzhou in China’s Jiangsu province, the company said on Friday May 12

The graphite electrodes markets in China remained quiet in the two weeks ended Wednesday May 10 due to slow liquidity resulting from weak steelmaking sectors both at home and abroad

Tesla’s $1 billion project aims at increasing the carmaker efforts of producing battery-grade lithium hydroxide domestically in the United States to serve the growing North American e-mobility market, the company said

China’s lepidolite production on a lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) basis accounted for 12.2% of global lithium production in 2022 and is forecast to account for more than 15% of global lithium production in 2032