What was the price of cobalt in 2015?
With growing demand from the battery industry and uncertainty
over access to cobaltores from
Africa, many expected the cobalt market to be in tight supply in 2015. Instead,
slowing consumption and increased output resulted in slumping cobalt prices.
The first half of the year saw prices for cobalt contracts on
the London Metal Exchange (LME)
remain fairly steady at between US$ 31,000 and US$ 27,000 per metric
tonne.
However, financial pressures on Chinese refiners - who account
for nearly half of all refined cobalt production - resulted in prices
plummeting by 15 percent in the fourth quarter of 2015 to end the year under US$
24,000 per tonne.
Total global output of refined cobalt is estimated to have
increased by about ten percent over 2014 to about 100,000 metric tonnes.
The LME began offering cobalt contracts in 2010.
Cobalt prices listed below are based on the monthly average of the LME's
daily cash buyer contract prices.
LME Cobalt Physical
Specifications:
- Lot
size: 1 tonne (2% either more or less) of minimum 99.3% cobalt
- Deliverable
in cathodes (broken or cut), ingots, briquettes or rounds in 100kg - 500kg
drums of uniform size and weight
- Delivery
by brand
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