SMM reported that after the National Day holiday, the cobalt industry chain remained sluggish, with weak demand and lower costs jointly affecting prices. Cobalt sulphate offers remained near 60,000 yuan/mt but transactions were difficult, and downstream buyers showed no purchasing interest. Enterprises expanded production cuts and suspensions, and new purchases remained insufficient. The market is expected to remain on a narrow downward trend in the short term.
The European Commission has mobilized over €2 billion in public funding for critical raw materials projects, but project developers warned that without urgent capital injections, more projects could fail. These projects are distributed across 16 EU member states and cover 15 of the 17 raw materials listed in the EU’s Strategic Raw Materials List, including cobalt.
Indonesian President Prabowo presided over the launch of 11 Chinese-funded downstream mining projects in Central Halmahera Regency, with a total investment of about $10. 2 billion. These projects span sectors such as power batteries, nickel-cobalt materials, aluminum, new energy construction machinery, and commercial vehicle manufacturing.