Cobalt
is required in excess for various manufacturing process and it is often
referred to as blue gold. Cobalt’s importance in the lithium battery industry
and its limited supply has led to rise of the price every year. It was
estimated that the demand for cobalt will increase drastically when the
electric car market blooms and lithium batteries will start powering the world.
More than 60% of global supply of cobalt is produced in Congo which has huge
cobalt reserves. Various other cobalt mining nations around the globe are
China, Canada, Russia, USA and Australia. Cobalt is mostly mined as a
bi-product of nickel and copper. All the available lithium batteries will be
fuelling the needs of the ever growing global population over the next few
years. Actually, lithium battery is a chemical stew of lithium metal oxides
such as phosphate, iron, manganese, spodumene, aluminium, tantalite, titanium,
cobalt and lithium. Germany's BMW car manufacturers and electronic gadget
makers, such as Apple, are keen on discovering cobalt deposits or supplies
around the world. It was observed that there is a multinational competition
within the cobalt market due to a tough challenge for many products that are
based on rechargeable batteries. Researchers are keen in discovering a metal to
replace cobalt in batteries, instead of finding fresh supply of cobalt reserves
for mining. The need for fresh cobalt may also lead to delay or even halt the
new generation electric vehicles utility.
According
to the study “Europe
Cobalt Products Industry Situation and Prospects Research Report”,
non-metallurgical applications consume a lot of cobalt compared to
metallurgical industries in over the recent years. Li-ion batteries are in huge
demand in advanced technological applications and electric vehicles which is
driving the cobalt market simultaneously. Newer applications need raw cobalt in
chemical form, such as cobalt sulphate with high purity standards. Cobalt
sulphate is majorly used by pre-cursor manufacturers, cathode compound
producers and integrated battery manufacturers. Most of the European Li-ion
battery manufacturing units are manufacturers of electric vehicles and battery
industry.
Almost
all the cobalt products are used in various end-user industries such as
aerospace, automotive, electronics, medical domain and other sectors. Cobalt is
used in the manufacturing of alloys for jet engines, gas turbines, drill bits,
magnets, orthopaedic implants and many more products. Various cobalt product
types are sintering of cobalt, cobalt alloy and cobalt salt. The major end-user
industries of cobalt products are battery materials, calendering process resin,
super heat resistant alloy, tool steel, hard alloy and magnetic materials.
Around 75% of lithium batteries use cobalt in their manufacturing process. It was observed that lithium batteries
include cobalt as a chief component mineral in their cathodes.
Geographically,
Europe cobalt products market is spread across Germany, Russia, UK, France,
Italy and other regions. The leading players in global cobalt products market
are Vale (BR), Sherritt International (CA), Glencore International AG
(Switzerland), ENRC(Switzerland), Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc.(US),
Grammy(CN), China Metallurgical(CN), Shandong Jinling Mining Co., Ltd(CN),
Yunnan Copper Group(CN), Jinchuan Group Co., LTD(CN), Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt
Industry Co. LTD(CN), Jiangsu Kalik Co. LTD(CN), Zhejiang Jialike Cobalt Nickel
Material Co. LTD(CN), and Nanjing Cold Cobalt Industry Co. LTD(CN). Cobalt
products market is categorized into independent mineral, commingling and other.
European
automotive companies manufacturing electric automobiles originally used battery
cathodes comprising lithium, nickel, aluminium, and cobalt, but the new battery
reveales that it consists of nickel, manganese, and cobalt. It was estimated,
by the year 2022, few automobile companies will start production of their own
cobalt pyrophosphate cathodes for automobile use. Additionally, smartphone
batteries account for a major share in Europe’s market for cobalt.
The
continuing fluctuations in oil prices and the demand for
environmentally-friendly alternatives to conserve fossil fuels are the major
factors that are driving the growth in batteries for energy generation.
Batteries power electric vehicles and essential everyday electronic devices
such as smartphones are fuelled by lithium ions along with a raft of other
metals including the relatively unknown cobalt. The increasing demand for
cobalt in the manufacture of rechargeable batteries will drive Europe’s cobalt
products industry over the next few years.
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