RE:RE:Glencore's Comments on KatangaBloomberg:
'“This should lift sentiment in the global cobalt market,” Daniel Chen, analyst at CRU Group said by phone from Guiyang in southern China. “Previously, consensus was that cobalt would be very oversupplied for two or even three years ahead, but now the market will pay more attention to risks in the DRC, and risks on the supply side.”
“Chinese producers are likely to gain market share on the back of the mine closure,” Gerry Alfonso, director of international business department at Shenwan Hongyuan Group, said by email."
“In the short term, confidence in the cobalt price could be boosted,” Hong Lu, researcher at Shanghai Metals Market, said in a note. “But if prices rise too high, new capacity can come in to feed extra demand, and Glencore won’t be happy to see that.” Market reactions in Hong Kong and mainland China: China Molybdenum, which operates the Tenke Fungurume mine in DRC, closed 20% higher in Hong Kong"
I basically don't believe Glen will hand over Cobalt dominance to the Chinese...It's a smart & desperate move to shut Mutanda (25% world production vol.), keep Katanga running...once the supply glut is over, they will reopen Mutanda and speed up Katanga's projects.