spglobal.com - October 27, 2023

China to continue dominance in cobalt refining Key traditional sectors can see decline in demand Global battery metals markets are expected to see an oversupply in cobalt raw materials continuing in 2

Global battery metals markets are expected to see an oversupply in cobalt raw materials continuing in 2024, with China remaining the dominant entity in cobalt refining, China's state-owned research agency Antaike said at an industrial conference Oct. 26…Global cobalt raw material output is expected to reach 238,000 mt in 2024, up 7%-8% compared to 220,000-230,000 mt in 2023, despite some mine projects getting delayed this year due to low cobalt prices, Antaike experts said in the conference held in Shanghai…Indonesia, the second-largest cobalt producer after the Democratic Republic of Congo, is set to step on the gas with its production plans, raising output of cobalt raw materials along with the rising production of mixed hydroxide precipitate, or MHP, a key intermediate product mostly used to produce nickel-based batteries, Antaike said…Indonesia's cobalt raw materials output proportion to global output would jump to 23% by 2025, compared with about 9% in 2023, it said…Cobalt is usually produced as a byproduct from large-scale copper and nickel mines…Refined cobalt consumption globally is expected at 193,000 mt in 2023, up 9% from a year ago, driven by increasing demand from the power battery and high temperature alloy sectors, Antaike said…As a result, the potential oversupply would be about 8,000 mt in 2023…Global consumption is seen reaching 216,000 mt in 2024, up 7% year on year…China, despite not owning cobalt-related reserves, will continue to dominate the cobalt refining industry…China's refined cobalt output is set to reach 153,000 mt in 2023, up 10% from a year earlier, and accounting for about 76% of the global refining share, according to the agency…The country's refined cobalt consumption is expected at 128,000 mt in 2023 and at 132,000 mt in 2024, Antaike's data showed…China's lithium-ion battery sector accounted for nearly 87% of cobalt consumption, according to Antaike data…The dominance in battery metals stems from its growing prowess in the electric vehicles sector, mostly due to higher domestic consumption, while the country also is making inroads into overseas markets for exports or developing local production capabilities in such markets.

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Fortune Minerals Limited published this content on 27 October 2023 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 27 October 2023 17:29:46 UTC.