Proposal to amend cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam brands: pricing notice

Increased metal refining capacity in China and Indonesia has led to a rise in production of Chinese and Indonesian cobalt metal brands.

Data gathered from pricing sessions shows an increase in the trading activity of these brands on a spot and forward basis in the in-whs Rotterdam market. This data also shows these brands transacting more toward standard-grade applications.

Cobalt brands and the grades under which they are designated are under constant review by Fastmarkets.

Fastmarkets reviews all pricing data carefully to ensure that its price assessments reflect the open and competitive market level.

Reporters may therefore apply expert judgment to exclude data deemed unrepresentative or unreliable, prior to consideration of the final assessment.

The changes to specifications would be as follows, with the proposed new brands in italics:

MB-CO-0005 Cobalt standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam, $/lb
Quality: Min 99.8% cobalt metal; standard specifications of the following brands in original packaging: Katanga cathodes, Chambishi broken cathodes, CTT broken cathodes, Minara briquettes, Ambatovy briquettes, Norilsk grade 1 and grade 2 cut cathodes (production since January 2019), Sherritt briquettes, Vale Long Harbour standard grade rounds (99.8% cobalt), Jiangsu (KLK) cut cathodes, Huayou cut cathodes, Greatpower cut cathodes, Hanrui cut cathodes, Lygend cut cathodes, Tengyuan cut cathodes and Umicore S1 powder.
Quantity: Minimum 1 tonne, maximum 100 tonnes
Location: In-warehouse Rotterdam, duty unpaid, customs uncleared
Timing: Within 30 days, other terms normalized
Unit: US$ per lb
Payment terms: Cash; other terms normalized
Publication: Daily, Monday to Friday, 3pm London time

This price is part of Fastmarkets’ minor metals package.

The consultation period for this proposed amendment starts from Monday February 24 and will end on Wednesday March 26. The amendment will then cone into effect, subject to market feedback, on Friday April 4.

To provide feedback on this price or if you would like to provide price information by becoming a data submitter to the cobalt metal price series, please contact Alex Cook or Sahil Shaw by email at: pricing@fastmarkets.com. Please add the subject heading ‘FAO: Alex Cook/Sahil Shaw, re: Cobalt Brand Consultation.’

Please indicate if comments are confidential. Fastmarkets will consider all comments received and will make comments not marked as confidential available upon request.

To see all Fastmarkets pricing methodology and specification documents, go to https://www.fastmarkets.com/methodology.