Cobalt Price

How the cobalt price has moved across key timeframes. Change is calculated from the opening price of each period to the current price.

Cobalt is a hard, lustrous, blue-grey metal that plays a crucial role in rechargeable batteries, superalloys for jet engines, and hard metals for cutting tools. It gained widespread attention during the electric vehicle boom as a key component in lithium-ion battery cathodes.

Cobalt has been used as a blue pigment in glass and ceramics since antiquity, but its identity as a distinct element was not established until 1735 by Swedish chemist Georg Brandt. Industrial use expanded in the 20th century with superalloy development for aerospace. The lithium-ion battery revolution transformed cobalt into a critical energy transition material, driving prices to record highs in 2018 before a sharp correction.

Battery cathodes account for the majority of cobalt demand, primarily in lithium cobalt oxide (LCO) batteries used in consumer electronics and lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide (NMC) batteries used in EVs. Superalloys for gas turbine blades in jet engines and power generation turbines are the second major use. Other uses include hard metals (cutting tools), catalysts in the petrochemical industry, magnets, and pigments.

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is overwhelmingly the dominant cobalt producer, supplying roughly 70% of global mine output. This concentration, combined with artisanal mining conditions, is a major ESG concern for EV supply chains. China dominates refined cobalt production and processing. Other producers include Russia, Australia, and the Philippines. Indonesia is emerging as a new source through nickel laterite processing.

Cobalt is priced in OTC markets and on the London Metal Exchange. Key drivers include EV adoption rates and battery chemistry trends (particularly whether battery makers are reducing cobalt content), DRC mining conditions and policy, Chinese processing capacity and stockpiling, and recycling supply from spent batteries. Prices are highly cyclical and have experienced dramatic booms and busts.

Investors can access cobalt via LME cobalt futures, physical cobalt held in approved warehouses, shares in cobalt miners and refiners (such as Glencore, which is the largest cobalt producer), or through EV supply chain and critical materials ETFs. Given the commodity's volatility and ESG complexities, risk management is important.