Cobalt metal prices are hovering at an 11-month low with a mixed short-term outlook despite talk of up to 2,600 mt possible metal stockpiling by China's National Food and Strategic Reserves Administration, or NFSRA…Platts assessed 99.8% cobalt metal at $24.5/lb IW Rotterdam Aug. 10, down 38% from a 2022-high toward end-April, S&P Global Commodity Insights data showed…The NFSRA is responsible for purchasing and storing reserves of strategic materials and executing certain procedures in accordance with the National Development and Reform Commission, China's top economic planner…Some sources have theorized that the NFSRA purchases commodities mainly to support market prices. The Chinese state reserves authority is estimated to have bought just over 2,000 mt cobalt metal in fourth quarter, 2020. Unconfirmed rumors suggested further stockpiling of 3000 mt metal early 2021…"The NFSRA always buys at the bottom ... they did this with nickel, copper, and a lot of other products," a US trader said. "If you traced NFSRA buying on metals, the market has always responded upwards."…Chinese sources cited gains of up to Yuan 50,000/mt in domestic cobalt metal prices Aug. 9, though the prices have ease through the week as market sentiment cooled…"It is obviously a good thing, I don't know how anyone could be unsure," a US metal trader said. "It is simple, it is a national stockpile. The Chinese economy is protecting itself against sanctions or trade disruptions attached to political or military movements."…Cobalt hydroxide demand has been poor from the battery sector and prices are at a 20-month low with market sources not seeing convincing signs of a recovery in the Chinese market, which accounts for 74% of global refining capacity…Platts assessed battery-grade 20.5% Co cobalt sulfate at Yuan 55,000 ($8,169)/mt DDP China Aug. 11, S&P Global data showed. Prices had declined in the week to Aug. 10 but saw a slight increase after talk of stockpiling.

Ford Motor CEO Jim Farley does not expect the costs of raw materials for the company’s electric vehicles to ease in the near future, marking the latest signal that automakers will continue hiking prices for their new EVs…“I don’t think there’s going to be much relief on lithium, cobalt and nickel anytime soon,” Farley told reporters Wednesday during an event at the automaker’s Michigan Assembly Plant…Prices of all lithium, cobalt and nickel have risen sharply over the past year as demand from battery makers has outpaced miners’ efforts to increase supply…Last month, Ford said it will begin offering LFP batteries from Chinese battery giant CATL that don’t use nickel or cobalt as a lower-cost option in the Mustang Mach-E next year. The company plans to expand the option to the F-150 Lightning in 2024…Ford also has invested in Colorado-based battery startup Solid Power, one of several companies working to develop solid-state batteries for electric vehicles. Solid-state batteries have the potential to offer EV owners more range, shorter recharging times, and a lower risk of fires than today’s batteries.

Elon Musk announced that the Tesla Semi electric truck with 500 miles of range is going to start shipping this year…After unveiling the Tesla Semi in 2017, the company first guided a start of production in 2019…While Tesla appeared to be building new electric trucks in low volume, it wasn’t clear if the company would stick to its new timeline of delivering its first units to customers in 2022 as Musk later said not to expect new products to be delivered in 2022 as Tesla focused on ramping up production of Model 3 and Model Y…It’s not clear who is going to get the Tesla Semi first, but PepsiCo is a likely contender…After the launch of Tesla Semi in 2017, PepsiCo placed one of the biggest orders for Tesla Semi: 100 electric trucks to add to its fleet…The company planned to use 15 of those trucks for a project to turn its Frito-Lay Modesto, California, site into a zero-emission facility.