Cobalt: Trading
Thin futures and hydroxide sold at a payable
What this tab covers How and where it is bought and sold: who buys and sells, exchanges and benchmarks, contract types, the big trading houses and how prices are discovered.Cobalt has thin futures markets. The LME and CME list contracts, but most metal and chemicals sell under bilateral contracts priced off assessments from agencies such as Fastmarkets. Congolese hydroxide is often sold at a payable percentage of the metal price. Large producer-traders, such as Glencore, and Chinese refiners dominate the flows. USGS reports two benchmarks: the US spot cathode price from Platts and the LME cash price. In 2024 the US spot price was $16.77 a pound, while LME cash was only $11.84.
Where it is bought (buyers)
- Chinese refiners (Huayou, GEM, Jinchuan, CNGR and others) buy DRC hydroxide and Indonesian MHP
- Cathode and precursor makers in China, Korea and Japan buy cobalt sulphate and tetroxide
- Superalloy, carbide and magnet makers in the US, Europe and Japan buy cobalt metal (cathode, briquettes, powder)
Where it is sold (sellers)
- CMOC, Glencore and ERG export hydroxide from the DRC within quotas
- Indonesian HPAL plants sell MHP, mostly to their Chinese parents
- Refiners in China, Finland, Norway, Canada and Japan sell metal and chemicals
Exchanges and benchmarks
| Venue | Contract | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| LME | Cobalt (physically settled); a separate cash-settled contract tracks the Fastmarkets standard-grade price | Market of last resort; stocks rise in gluts (Andy Home, Reuters, 2024) |
| CME Group | Cobalt metal (Fastmarkets) and cobalt hydroxide (Fastmarkets) futures, cash-settled | Used to hedge payable-based hydroxide contracts |
| Wuxi Stainless Steel Exchange | Cobalt spot trading in China | Chinese speculative price signal |
Contract types
- Hydroxide sold at a payable percentage of the metal price
- Annual or multi-year offtakes between miners and refiners, often with Chinese parents
- Metal sold on monthly or quarterly contracts priced off Fastmarkets standard grade in-whs Rotterdam
- Quota-linked export contracts with 10% royalty prepaid (DRC, from late 2025)
Top trading houses
- Glencore
- Trafigura
- IXM (owned by CMOC)
- Chinese refiner-traders
How prices are discovered
- Fastmarkets assessments (standard grade in-whs Rotterdam, $/lb; hydroxide; sulphate)
- Benchmark Mineral Intelligence daily hydroxide and metal prices
- LME cobalt official price
- Shanghai Metals Market (SMM) China quotes
- No Indian exchange contract; MCX does not list cobalt