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COVID Lockdowns Hit Cobalt Prices

by Eric Olander
File image of cobalt processing facility in the DR Congo city of Lumbubashi. SAMIR TOUNSI / AFP

Chinese cobalt prices fell about 13% from a peak in May as China’s ongoing COVID lockdowns hit demand for electric vehicles. 

The dynamic reveals a gap between the Chinese domestic price for the metal and how that price is calculated globally. The effect is that cobalt miners are offering growing concessions to keep Chinese buyers from canceling supply deals. 

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