China Cobalt Buyers Use Global Glut to Challenge Pricing

(Bloomberg) — China’s battery industry has seized on a glut in the global cobalt market to push through a change in the way the commodity is priced.

A rapid expansion of cobalt mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Indonesia has output racing ahead of demand, dragging down global prices. It has also prompted a push by squeezed Chinese refineries to win changes in how cobalt is bought and sold.