The cobalt market—current volatility versus future stability?

The second half of the 1990s was a volatile period in the cobalt market. Increasing demand for cobalt in traditional markets, such as aerospace, and newer applications, such as batteries, together with supply uncertainties—in particular, in Africa—led to significant price fluctuations. An appraisal of the current supply/demand situation in the cobalt market is accompanied by assessments of the likely drivers of cobalt demand in the next decade, the impact of new projects on the supply of cobalt to the world market and the likely effect of these supply/demand changes on cobalt prices.