New momentum BMS ┃ cobalt prices soared for a year Huayou cobalt net profit more than 22 times

Under the strong demand for raw materials for the new energy vehicle battery, the price of small metallic cobalt continued its rally for more than a year, driving the performance of related companies rosy.

 

On the evening of January 22, Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt Co., Ltd. issued a notice of pre-performance growth. It is estimated that the net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies will be RMB1.65 billion -19.9 billion in 2017, an increase of 2283.1% -2644.18% over the same period of last year.

 

Founded in 2002, Huayou Cobalt is a high-tech enterprise that specializes in the deep processing of new cobalt materials and the mining, selection and smelting of cobalt, copper and nickel non-ferrous metals. The company said the net profit surge was mainly due to the continuous rise in the price of cobalt products due to the impact of the demand for cobalt products from lithium ion batteries (including 3C lithium batteries and power lithium batteries) during the period.

 

January 23, Huayou cobalt closed up 6.21%, Hanrui Cobalt, Sheng Tun Mining, Green America and other related stocks also across the board gains across the board.

Non-ferrous metals are divided into basic metals and small metals. Part of the relative units of metal smaller is called a small metal. Metallic cobalt belongs to the category of small metals and is one of the most important strategic minerals in the world. It is a key raw material in ternary battery cathode materials and is mainly used in the fields of battery materials and alloy manufacturing.

 

According to the statistics of new energy vehicles released by the Association of Automobile Manufacturers, the total production and sales of new energy vehicles for the year to 2017 amounted to 794,000 units and 777,000 units respectively, up 53.8% and 53.3% respectively. In the field of new energy vehicles, ternary battery as the mainstream route, with its demand for cobalt is on the rise, cobalt has become the largest upstream battery industry rose.

 

Public statistics show that in 2017, domestic cobalt metal prices rose about 97%. According to Metal Bulletin, according to the British Metal Net, as of the end of 2017, the quotation of low-grade cobalt has risen to 35-37 US $ / lb from 14.3-15 US $ / lb at the beginning of the year, an increase of about 145% .

 

According to Zhongtai Securities estimates, with the development of new energy battery industry, it is estimated that the global cobalt demand will grow at an average annual rate of 10% from 2017 to 2020 and the demand in 2017 and 2018 will reach 115,400 tons and 127,600 tons respectively . New energy vehicles sales continue to increase, the supply of cobalt or further gap.

 

At the beginning of 2018, the price of cobalt still rose more than that. According to business agency data, January 22, the domestic major non-ferrous metal spot market average price of cobalt metal was 56.1 yuan / ton, up 1,000 yuan / ton over the previous day; cobalt commodity index was 201.8, compared with the previous day An increase of 0.36 points, setting a record high for the period, up 188.95% from 69.84 points as of July 5, 2016.

 

China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association Cobalt Branch Sun Yongang, deputy secretary general analysis, this round of cobalt prices rose basically within expectations, China is a poor country cobalt, import dependence in more than 90%, rising raw material costs is to promote its price rise a factor .

In addition, the new energy battery industry boom, the increase in demand is almost the same as expected in the whole industry chain. Sun Yonggang said that due to raw materials, product prices rose rapidly, resulting in smelting companies to control the shipping pace, but also on the cobalt price increase from a promotion role. Judging from the current situation, the price of cobalt is easy to rise and fall, and it is expected that the price will remain high and volatile for some time to come and may even exceed 600,000 yuan / ton.

 

Recently, the country's largest exporter of cobalt ore, Congo, is amending the mining law and may raise its royalty tax on cobalt exports from 2% to 5%. According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the global reserves of cobalt amounted to 7 million MT in 2016, of which DRC accounted for 48.6% of the total reserves and 3.4 million MTs. Australia, with the second largest cobalt reserve, One million tons of metal. China's cobalt reserves only 80,000 tons of metal.

 

Sino-Thai non-ferrous metals analysis said that changes in the DRC tax system and the increase in tax costs will shift most of the Cobalt cost curve upward. Continued tension in the supply of cobalt raw materials, upstream companies have the right to speak, the upstream cost increases are likely to move down the way by price increases, and further support the upward trend of cobalt prices.