China Battery Cobalt Market Analysis Chart

China has very limited cobalt reserve. Compared to other countries. China, as the largest cobalt consumer in the world, need a safer cobalt supply chain to meet the demand from manufactures. Cobalt demand from EV industry is expected to keep growing, although there is some headwinds for EVs sales in some regions.

However, the cobalt consumption from EVs battery sector is expected to rise by 8.3% in 2024, thanks to new models with NCM batteries and low inventories of battery raw materials. ➢ In the electric vehicle market, battery electric vehicles(BEVs) constitute roughly 70% of sales, with plug-in hybrid electric vehicles(PHEVs) making up about 30%.

In Chinese EVs market, cobalt demand has been affected by the increasing market shares of LFP battery and high-nickel content ternary lithium battery. In 2023, due to the collapse of lithium prices, battery producers preferred reducing their stock of raw materials.

Appendix: Main drivers for Chinese companies to invest in the global cobalt industry As shown in this report, China does not have enough cobalt reserve to meet the demand,which is one of main drivers for Chinese cobalt producers to find investment opportunities in the other countries.

The total global cobalt demand in 2023 is estimated to be 216,000 mt in metal content. In 2024, the growth rates of global cobalt supply and demand were relatively stable, but the supply growth rate was higher than the demand growth rate, thus maintaining an overall surplus in the supply-demand relationship.

Batteries are the largest consumer of cobalt with a share of about 57%, followed by nickel-based alloys with 14%. On a regional basis, China is the largest and fastest-growing cobalt consumer, sweeping approximately 32% of global consumption in 2020 when the second-ranked Europe seized about 23% and the No.3 United States 18%.