Cobalt is a strategic and critical metal for the United States since 1980s. Chinese interest was apparent in 2006 and culminated in 2011 through the strategic cooperation between China and Democratic Republic of Congo (resources for infrastructures), and notably, the subsequent acquisition of Tenke Fungurume by China Molybdenum.
Combined with the surge in production of batteries for electric cars, such environment creates bonanza for cobalt investors: traders, hedge funds and industrials are pursuing investments in cobalt through offtake/streaming contract, mine acquisitions and/or greenfield/brownfield exploration.
Since Amnesty Int. reports in January 2016 and November 2017 on human rights abuses in cobalt mines, industrials (such as Apple, Samsung, Dell, HP, etc) are under scrutiny leading to a tight supply environment.
This issue analyses the correlation between cobalt pricing and the fundamentals of supply (resources, reserves, production and cash cost) and demand with an objective to identify appropriate investment strategies.
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The full article is available upon request.
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