Cobalt carbonate market demand is strong in 2021 and prices continue to run at high levels

Cobalt carbonate, chemical formula is CoCO3, appears as red crystal or powder, is toxic, irritating, basically insoluble in water, insoluble in alcohols, ammonia, methyl acetate, etc., soluble in ether, carbon disulfide, ammonium carbonate, etc., and can It reacts with hot acid and decomposes into cobalt oxide and carbon dioxide when heated to a certain temperature. It can be oxidized into cobalt carbonate when exposed to weak oxidants or in the air.

Cobalt carbonate can be used to produce cobalt salts, which can be used in lithium-ion batteries, chemical catalysts, paint and ink desiccants, pigments, glass ceramic colorants, mineral processing agents, feed additives, trace element fertilizers, analytical reagents and other fields. Globally, power batteries are the largest downstream market for cobalt carbonate, accounting for about 49% of the demand, followed by 3C batteries, accounting for about 31%. The global 3C electronics market is increasingly saturated, but replacement demand is high. The global electric vehicle industry is developing rapidly, which brings broad development prospects to the cobalt carbonate industry.

According to the “China Cobalt Carbonate Market Analysis and Development Prospects Research Report 2021-2025” released by the Industrial Research Center, in 2019, The global demand for cobalt carbonate is approximately 110,000 tons. The continued growth in the production and sales of electric vehicles and the increase in power battery consumption are the core driving forces for the growth of global demand for cobalt carbonate. China is the world’s largest producer of electric vehicles. Electric vehicle production and sales will resume growth in 2020. It is expected that demand for power batteries will be strong in the next three years, and demand in the electric vehicle field will be an important driving force for the growth of the cobalt carbonate market.

Metal cobalt is one of the core raw materials for ternary lithium battery cathode materials. Global cobalt resource reserves are limited. Since 2019, due to political instability, the output of the largest cobalt mine producer, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, has declined, resulting in a continued decline in global cobalt production. Since the second half of 2020, as the COVID-19 epidemic has been well controlled, China’s output as the largest producer of electric vehicles has continued to grow, and the demand for cobalt carbonate has been strong. Under the influence of two major factors, global cobalt carbonate prices have continued to rise since 2021. In mid-November 2021, the average price quoted for cobalt carbonate in China reached 210,000 yuan/ton.

The main cobalt carbonate production enterprises in my country include Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt Co., Ltd., Nanjing Hanrui Cobalt Co., Ltd., Ganzhou Tengyuan Cobalt New Materials Co., Ltd., Zhangjiagang Huayi Chemical Co., Ltd., etc. Affected by the rise in international cobalt carbonate prices, my country’s cobalt carbonate prices are also rising rapidly, and the downstream power battery industry is booming. There is still room for growth in cobalt carbonate prices in the future. It is expected that leading cobalt carbonate companies will have strong development momentum in 2022.

Industry analysts people said that since 2021, international metal cobalt prices have skyrocketed, and domestic metal cobalt prices have risen accordingly. Superimposed on domestic electric vehicles , The development momentum of the power battery industry is strong, the market for metal cobalt is increasing, and the rising price of cobalt salt has driven the price of cobalt carbonate to continue to rise. From the analysis of the upstream and downstream markets, it is estimated that the price of cobalt carbonate still has room to rise. It is expected that in 2022, the prosperity of my country’s cobalt carbonate industry is expected to continue to run at a high level.