Jinchuan Group hikes ex-works refined cobalt price
Shanghai. January 14. INTERFAX-CHINA - Major Chinese cobalt producer Jinchuan Group Ltd. has raised its ex-works refined cobalt price for the second time this month by RMB 15,000 ($2,197.09) to RMB 395,000 ($57,856.81) per ton on Jan. 14, in line with international refined cobalt prices.
"Recent heavy rain in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, one of the world's major cobalt producing regions, has impacted transportation and caused a shortage in global cobalt supplies. Furthermore, the cobalt price increase is also due to a more positive outlook for the global cobalt market," Liu Dan, an analyst from ChinaCCM.com, told Interfax.
"In addition, the London Metal Exchange (LME) will launch cobalt futures on Feb. 22 this year, therefore some cobalt producers would like to stockpile cobalt in preparation for contract deliveries, which is also partly tightening the cobalt supply," Jin added.
Jin also predicts that refined cobalt prices will remain strong before China's Spring Festival, but may see some corrections after the holidays as currently it is generally viewed as overpriced and putting too much pressure on downstream buyers.
-XH