Categories: Energy / General Market Commentary
Topics: General Energy / General Market Commentary

Glencore signs massive cobalt sale deal with China's GEM

Glencore Plc, the world's biggest producer of cobalt, has agreed to sell around a third of its cobalt production over the next three years to Chinese battery recycler GEM Co Ltd, according to a filing by GEM on Wednesday.

Glencore will sell 52,800 tonnes of cobalt hydroxide to GEM between 2018 and 2020 as demand for cobalt, a critical metal in lithium-ion batteries, soars on a forecasted boom in electric vehicle sales.

Reuters reported last week that Glencore was in talks to sell around a quarter of its cobalt output in a one-year deal to GEM, according to sources. Price was a sticking point as the Swiss-based global miner and other major producers are now able to exert more influence in negotiations.

Expectations of supply shortages have fueled a cobalt rally that has taken prices to around $39 a pound, from near $10 a pound in January 2016 and to their highest level since July 2008, before the financial crisis started.

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