Cobalt prices are crashing back to earth as sellers offer increasingly steep concessions to Chinese buyers who have turned cold on the battery metal as demand slumps in electric vehicles and smartphones.
The benchmark price for cobalt in Europe has slid more than 13% since a peak in May, and an even sharper decline in Chinese prices signals the sell-off could have further to run. Buyers in the country are racing to renegotiate supply deals in order to stem heavy losses arising from an unusual disconnect between domestic and international prices, according to cobalt traders and buyers.
It’s a rapid reversal from conditions just a few months ago, when booming demand in China’s electric-vehicle sector sent cobalt rocketing along with other battery metals -- notably lithium. China’s wave of strict pandemic curbs have since stifled cobalt’s main markets.