Cobalt market participants fear President-elect Trump could walk back EV legislature and impose stricter tariffs on Chinese-origin cobalt metal and EVs…President-elect Trump has said in the past his intentions to “end the electric vehicle mandate on day one” with his view being that he is “saving the auto industry from complete obliteration.”…But this may prove more difficult than it appears, with current and planned EV manufacturing hubs predominately appearing in his own Republican party states…“It’s too soon to say what the impact will be but the prospects of additional tariffs is definitely increased, Indonesian material might fall under that due to the joint-ownership, next year will be interesting,” a trader said…Some traders have looked to export Indonesian cobalt metal into the US because it currently has no tariffs imposed upon these materials. But other participants have queried the potential for tariffs due to the joint-ownership structure of some projects where Chinese companies hold stakes…Fastmarkets’ daily price assessment for cobalt, standard grade, in-whs Rotterdam was $9.75-11.80 per lb on Wednesday November 6…The US features prominently in the alloy-grade market for cobalt metal, with strong production hubs for commercial aerospace and defense applications, with medical usages and industrial gas turbines also a source of demand. Cobalt is preferred due to its high temperature and wear resistance…The US consumers are probably nervous for their sourcing requirements and not just for cobalt either, if tariffs get brought in for widespread material imports including non-Chinese cobalt too that will really hurt…Fastmarkets’ daily price assessment for cobalt, alloy grade, in-whs Rotterdam was at $14.35-15.40 per lb on Wednesday November 6…The US currently has a 25% tariff on Chinese refined cobalt metal, with much of the present metal oversupply refined in China and then exported to Europe…Some market participants believe the tariff could be increased to 60%. The impact of such a move has split opinion.

The biggest point of interest for European market participants is the potential impact of Trump's tariff plans and whether they would apply to critical minerals. Trump in the past has said his administration would apply tariffs upwards of 60pc on all US imports from China and a 20pc tariff on imports from the rest of the world to protect American manufacturing. But this also runs the risk of driving up inflation…Minor metals trading firms are hopeful that exceptions will be made for critical minerals and that Trump's plans could be watered down and take some time to implement…"He certainly announced increased tariffs for several products of Chinese origin, but it could take months for any plan to actually be implemented,"…In addition to higher prices for metals imported from China, the other major risk factor associated with a more intensified US protectionist policy is that China will ramp up retaliatory measures in the form of export restrictions on metals for which it holds a dominant supply position…China has instituted export controls on gallium, germanium and antimony since the middle of last year, contributing to a dramatic surge in import prices for the latter two metals in the rest of the world…"We will probably see more stability in mining projects in the US and a fast-tracking of permits for strategic metals," a supplier said…On 27 September, president Joe Biden's administration implemented 25pc tariffs on some chromium, cobalt, indium, tantalum and tungsten products imported to the US from China, despite strong opposition from stakeholders across the markets. All five of these metals were included in the US Secretary of the Interior's 2022 critical minerals list. Furthermore, Trump previous administration imposed tariffs on 5,745 items in 2018, including but not limited to, battery metals such as nickel, cobalt, lithium and manganese, as well as key electronics and aerospace metals such as gallium, germanium, bismuth and certain tungsten products.

Vitol is eyeing the metals market with global petroleum demand expected to peak in a decade, signaled Russell Hardy, CEO of Vitol, the world’s largest independent energy trader. “The petroleum, the oil business, we still think it will reach a peak at some point, about 10 years ahead from where we are today,” Hardy said on Thursday at the Financial Times Commodities Summit in Singapore…In contrast to the eventual decline of the crude industry, metals business is going to witness a “great deal of growth through the electrification phase,” he added…“So we quite like the idea of being involved in the bigger metal markets. And the three bigger metal markets are steel and iron ore, copper and aluminum,” he said…Critical minerals such as copper, nickel, cobalt and lithium are key in the manufacturing of EV batteries, electric vehicles, power grids and solar panels — some of the components driving the energy transition ecosystem…“It’s a 10 year ambition, and I’m not going to put any pressure on ourselves to be in a particular place in three years, or five years,” he said, while emphasizing that oil and gas remain “really important” business units for the trader.

South Korea's LG Energy Solution on Friday said its subsidiary LG Energy Solution Arizona has signed a battery supply agreement with U.S.-based automotive manufacturer Rivian. Under the agreement, LGES, which supplies Tesla, General Motors and Hyundai Motor, will provide Rivian with its advanced 4695 cylindrical batteries for over five years, totaling 67 GWh, the company said in a statement.