VIDEO - Caspar Rawles: Will Cobalt See a Reversal of Fortunes in 2020?

Following the path of other battery raw materials markets, cobalt saw a downturn in 2019, with prices trading low for most of the year.

In August, prices rebounded more than 40 percent for some products on the back of Glencore’s (LSE:GLEN) closure plans for Mutanda, the world’s largest cobalt mine by production. But will this reversal of fortunes for the metal continue in 2020?

At this year’s Cathodes conference, the Investing News Network caught up with Caspar Rawles, senior analyst at Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, to talk about all things cobalt.

“The first half (of 2020) will probably be unexciting (for cobalt) … with the market expected to be fairly flat or slightly below where we are right now,” he said. “But starting in the second half of the year the market will start feeling (the Mutanda) closure a little bit more.”

Prices for cobalt are likely to come off the levels seen after the Glencore news, but according to the expert, they will probably not return to the lows seen at the start of the year.

Rawles, who is a cathodes and megafactories analyst, also talked about the expected increase in adoption of nickel-cobalt-manganese 811 cathodes moving forward and what this means for the space.

“The challenges (for these cathodes) remain the same. Energy density is great, but they still need to be safe,” he said. “That is potentially a challenge for automakers who still need to qualify the material.”

China is going to be at the forefront of that adoption, Rawles added, with the rest of the world probably adopting the new technology starting in 2021.

Watch the video above for more of Rawles’s thoughts on megafactories, cathodes and the cobalt space. You can also click here for more video interviews from Benchmark Minerals Week.

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Securities Disclosure: I, Priscila Barrera, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

Editorial Disclosure: The Investing News Network does not guarantee the accuracy or thoroughness of the information reported in the interviews it conducts. The opinions expressed in these interviews do not reflect the opinions of the Investing News Network and do not constitute investment advice. All readers are encouraged to perform their own due diligence.