China cobalt prices jump on Mutanda production halt

摘要

Cobalt prices in the Chinese market, including cobalt metal and sulfate, rose quickly on Wednesday August 7, with sentiment strengthening after concerns of near-term supply surplus eased to a large extent. Earlier in the day on August 7, Glencore announced it will shut its Mutanda copper-cobalt mine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) by the end of 2019 for care and maintenance, mainly as a result of low cobalt prices. Concurrently, the trader-miner largely adjusted its 2019 production guidance for cobalt down. The company’s total cobalt production guidance has been reduced to 43,000 tonnes, compared with 57,000 tonnes previously, due to the lower output expectation at its Katanga project.