[Ferro-Alloys.com]The price for cobalt continued to hold this past week even though demand was noticeably thinner. The price for cobalt has stayed at $12.00-12.50 per lb for Co 99.8% material as the bulk of business continued to be reported near the lower end of the range. The strong decreases that were seen in mid-November have subsided, as prices have been unchanged for the past few weeks. “There are some bits and pieces of business,” said a source, “but nothing worth calling home about.” According to sources, inquiries are still quite active, but truckload transactions seem elusive. “Prices have leveled-off and there is not much going on,” added a seller. “There is nothing robust about the market.” The market is in a typical slowdown ahead of year end holidays, as most sources anticipate the pace to fall off over the next couple of weeks.

 

Despite the current standstill, many sources are still quite focused on 2014 and possible supply impact from ENRC’s Chambishi cobalt operation in Zambia. According to the company, it will be running at 50% capacity for approximately six weeks following a power transformer blow-out. Overall, contract business is not expected to be affected; however, spot supplies could tighten. “I don’t foresee any issues between now and the end of the year,” commented a source. “There are questions though, for January, but we’ll have to wait until the new year to see where demand will be.”