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Moroccan miner Managem was planning to switch its cobalt production to sulfate rather than metal, with a new production facility expected to open in the country later this month in Bou-Azzer, Fastmarkets heard on Wednesday January 7.
This would mean that there would be no production of cobalt metal broken cathodes by its Compagnie de Tifnout Tiranimine (CTT) division for at least the first half of the year, with a direct effect on the availability of cobalt metal of Western origin.
Despite cobalt prices surging last year, CTT’s metal production remained around 50% of nameplate capacity when prices broke above the cost of production.
“All cobalt ore will be fed into the cobalt sulfate production line from this month. We will wait to see how that production performs,” a source with knowledge of the operation said. “If the price of metal becomes more ‘interesting’ than sulfate in the second half of the year, maybe it will switch back to producing metal.”
According to market sources, the capacity of the new sulfate plant was estimated at 6,000 tonnes per year, with 1,200 tpy of cobalt content. The plans indicated operating the new facility at just under 60%, Fastmarkets understands.
Managem could not be reached for comment at the time of publication.
Morocco has seen a pick-up in the level of investment in the electric vehicle (EV) supply chain, spurred by government incentives.
Gotion Power Morocco, a subsidiary of Sino-European EV battery maker Gotion High Tech, signed an investment agreement with the Moroccan government in 2024 for a $6.5 billion gigafactory which was expected to begin production by the third quarter of this year.
Fastmarkets assessed the price of cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam, at $24.75-25.65 per lb on January 6, narrowing upward from $24.50-25.65 per lb the day before.
CTT cobalt metal production capacity was estimated at 2,400 tpy, according to Fastmarkets’ research.
Refining is fed with cobalt ore mined at the primary cobalt project in Bou-Azzer, one of the small number of mines globally where cobalt is not obtained as a by-product.
Some market participants have expressed dismay about the declining availability of CTT cobalt metal, because some consumers and speculators look to stock only non-Chinese brands of cobalt metal.
“It certainly tightens up that availability of Western metal. “A lot is already s tied up in long-term contracts, so we could see prices for spot trades of those brands increase this year.”
EV manufacturer BMW signed a multi-year agreement with Managem in 2020 for the supply of cobalt metal, which Fastmarkets understands concluded in December 2025. BMW has previously said that it intended to avoid using cobalt material in its vehicles that was sourced from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
“Moroccan cobalt metal is typically exported to Europe, Japan, Taiwan and the US,” Olivier Masson, principal analyst at Fastmarkets, said. “These countries could therefore be deprived of one source of metal. The switch to sulfate would help the battery industry, however, given the tightening hydroxide supply from the DRC.”
Fastmarkets’ twice-weekly price assessment for cobalt sulfate, 20.5% Co basis, exw China, was 92,000-94,000 yuan ($13,157-13,443) per tonne on December 31, unchanged for two weeks.
Cobalt sulfate production outside of China in 2025 was estimated at 18,760 tonnes, compared with 103,685 tonnes in China. This was because China accounted for the vast majority of cobalt processing and consequently had a more expansive EV supply chain.
Diversified options for the supply of cobalt sulfate would be welcomed by the downstream market because countries such as the US and trade blocs such as Europe were trying to reduce their reliance on China.
“Many automakers have changed their purchasing habits away from upstream processed material such as cobalt metal to instead preferring buy an assembled battery – or as close to it as they can,” one market participant said.
“At the start of the 2020s,” he added, “it was all about getting offtake agreements with producers and building the battery ‘in-house’. Now people want to be less involved upstream, perhaps due to perceived reputational risk.”
Sulfate was preferred by battery cell makers as a feed option for EVs. Cobalt metal can be dissolved to make cobalt sulfate too, a trend that was being seen increasingly in China while the availability of hydroxide remained critical, owing to export delays in the DRC.
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