Cobalt futures were hovering around the $75,000 per tonne level in June, not far from a four-year peak of 82,000 touched last month amid continued strong demand from the electric vehicle sector. Cobalt, a key element in lithium-ion batteries, benefits from robust growth in rechargeable batteries and energy storage due to the impressive demand for electric vehicles. Adding to the bullish outlook were mounting sanctions on Russia, which account for roughly 4% of the world's cobalt production, for invading Ukraine. On the flip side, soaring cobalt prices triggered a round of new international investment projects. The latest big miner to announce a return to production was Zambia Mopani Copper Mine, which plans to resume cobalt production halted more than a decade ago. Once output picked up, excess inventory would hit the global markets and pose a significant downside to prices in the longer run.
Historically, Cobalt reached an all time high of 95250 in March of 2018. Cobalt - data, forecasts, historical chart - was last updated on June of 2022.
Cobalt is expected to trade at 73442.56 USD/MT by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate it to trade at 76664.36 in 12 months time.