Renewables/GOES MMI: Cobalt prices rise; US aims to strengthen supply chains for critical minerals

The Renewables Monthly Metals Index (MMI) picked up by 6.0% for this month’s reading, as cobalt prices picked up and the U.S. government last month announced a number of efforts aimed at strengthening domestic supply chains for critical minerals.

March 2022 Renewables MMI chart
Source: MetalMiner Insights

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US supply chains and rare earths

As we noted in the Rare Earths MMI, the U.S. government is moving to strengthen its supply chains for critical minerals.
A majority of the world’s cobalt is mined in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where substandard labor conditions (including the use of child labor) have led several NGOs to raise supply chain ethics concerns of cobalt sourcing.
Cobalt finds applications in a number of high-tech cases, from cellphones and computers to electric vehicles.
The White House last month announced a number of ventures aimed at strengthening domestic supply chains for critical minerals.
“Redwood Materials will discuss a pilot, in partnership with Ford and Volvo, for collection and recycling of end-of-life lithium-ion batteries at its Nevada based facilities to extract lithium, cobalt, nickel, and graphite,” the White House said. “This builds upon Redwood’s recent announcements including a joint venture with Ford to build a recycling facility in Tennessee and its intention to begin construction on a new cathode manufacturing facility in Nevada in 2022.”

Cobalt prices gain

Like a number of other commodities, cobalt prices have surged over the last month.

LME cobalt prices reached over $82,000 per metric ton last week, LME data show. Prices jumped from around $71,000 per metric ton a month ago.
The Russia-Ukraine war could also have an impact on cobalt by way of nickel. As we have noted previously, nickel prices have skyrocketed. As a component in electric vehicle batteries, battery makers have sometimes looked to nickel as a more cost-effective substitute for nickel.
It remains to be seen how long term nickel’s current price surge will be. However, persistent, elevated nickel prices could push demand from battery production back in cobalt’s direction, thus boosting cobalt prices.
The MetalMiner Insights platform includes buying strategies, price charts and much more for nickel and a number of other metals. 

US share of electricity generation from renewables to increase

The Energy Information Administration forecast the U.S.’s share of electricity generation from renewables will rise from 20% in 2021 to 22% in 2022. The EIA forecast a rise to 24% in 2023.
The rise comes in part due to a decline in natural gas generation, the EIA forecast. The EIA projected a decline in natural gas from 37% in 2021 to 36% in 2022.
The U.S. added 14 new gigawatts of wind power capacity in 2021, the EIA added. Meanwhile, it forecast 10 GW of wind power capacity coming online in 2022.
Furthermore, the U.S. added 13 GW of utility-scale solar capacity in 2021. The EIA forecast that to rise to 22 GW in 2022 and 24 GW in 2023.

GOES

The GOES MMI, the index for grain-oriented electrical steel, surged 10.3% for this month’s reading.

March 2022 GOES MMI chart
Source: MetalMiner Insights

The GOES coil price rose by 10.0% month over month to $3,984 per metric ton as of March 1.

Actual metals prices and trends

The U.S. steel plate price rose 0.7% month over month to $1,860 per short ton as of March 1.
Korean steel plate jumped 2.37% to $972 per metric ton. Chinese steel plate dipped 0.13% to $855 per metric ton.
The Chinese neodymium price rose 7.17% to $232,875 per metric ton.

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