On the future trend of electrolytic cobalt among rare earth materials at present

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Taking into account the upward trend in the price of electrolytic cobalt, which is one of the main components of samarium-cobalt permanent magnets used in rare earth applications, the price rose from around 320,000 yuan per ton in April and May to 430,000 yuan per ton at present. Initially, this increase was driven by the price fluctuations of praseodymium and neodymium metals used in neodymium-iron-boron permanent magnets. Currently, the price of electrolytic cobalt remains at 430,000 yuan per ton. However, our factory has recently received updates from our material suppliers indicating that the price of electrolytic cobalt might rise to over 500,000 yuan per ton in the near future. The reason for this is that China imports most of its electrolytic cobalt and related rare earth metals from Congo, which is a country that exports electrolytic cobalt. The shipping vessels transporting these goods pass through Port of Bond in South Africa, and there, the volume of shipments has dropped sharply due to new pandemic variants, resulting in China having to rely on existing stockpiles of electrolytic cobalt. Once those stocks are exhausted, the supply will not be able to keep up, which will inevitably drive up market prices. In fact, rare earth companies are already raising the price of electrolytic cobalt, and this will lead to additional increases in production costs for companies that use samarium-cobalt magnets, as the high price of praseodymium and neodymium metals also contributes to these cost increases.