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The Co metal, which is mined as a by-product of copper and nickel, is a crucial element in the lithium-ion batteries that power everything from electric cars to Apple products |
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Worth all the effort? (Reuters/Kenny Katombe) |
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DRCongo is by far the world's leading cobalt producer |
The market for cobalt has increased from about $4 billion last year to about $8 billion, according to Bloomberg. Traders and automakers are betting that consumers will increasingly switch to electric vehicles as several countries around the world try to drastically cut down carbon emissions by banning gas and diesel cars.
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2017 price performance of commodities |
The metal’s popularity is inherently problematic. Traders suspect that there won’t be enough supply to meet demand because two-thirds of the world’s cobalt is in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Political instability and reports of child labor being used to mine the metal have seen some mining companies leave the country and try to increase the supply mined in other parts of the world, such as Canada and Australia.
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The DRC remains very appealing geologically but the investment climate has deteriorated .Political instability and reports of child labor being used to mine the metal have seen some mining companies leave the country ![]() |
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Annual global electric vehicle sales are forecast to hit 24.4 million by 2030 |
Next year, prices will keep on rising, though potentially at a slower pace, said Casper Rawles, an analyst at Benchmark. With little standing in the way of cobalt’s upward march, the pace of gains might be determined by Glencore, which controversially brought two large mines in the Congo earlier this year. Still, any delays that Glencore encounters getting the cobalt from these mines into the market would cause big price increases, Rawles said.
Congo's Bloody Coltan: καλημέρα αληθινέ κόσμε ...
How electric car batteries sparked a cobalt frenzy in 2017 and what could happen next
[by P. Tzeferis]
How electric car batteries sparked a cobalt frenzy in 2017 and what could happen next
[by P. Tzeferis]